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Terence Blacker

Terence Blacker
FRSL
Born (1948-02-05) 5 February 1948 (age 77)
near Hadleigh, Suffolk, England
EducationWellington College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Songwriter, author and columnist
Spouse(s)Caroline Soper, m. 1975, div. 2001
ParentCecil Blacker (father)
RelativesPhilip Blacker (brother)

Terence Blacker FRSL (born 5 February 1948) is an English songwriter, author and columnist.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Blacker was born near Hadleigh, Suffolk. He is the son of General Sir Cecil Blacker, and the brother of sculptor and former jockey Philip Blacker.

He grew up on the family farm in Suffolk. He attended Hawtreys preparatory school and Wellington College, before reading English at Trinity College, Cambridge, whence he graduated in 1969.

Life and work

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Blacker began his working life in horse-racing and as an amateur jockey.[3] Subsequently, he worked in publishing for 10 years during the 1970s and 1980s,[3] where he was responsible for overseeing the publication of works by Jerzy Kosinski.[4]

Blacker became a full-time writer in 1983 and has written children's books and mysteries for adults. His first children's book, If I Could Work, was published in 1987 and his first adult novel, FIXX, won critical acclaim and was described by The Guardian as a "tour de force". He is an active member of English PEN, and is also an EAW member.

He writes the "Endpaper" for The Author. For many years, he wrote the "Harvey Porlock" column in The Sunday Times, as well as a column about the book business for Publishing News.[3] His regular writing for The Independent, newspaper, usually consisting of twice-weekly columns, came to an end in December 2013 after nearly 16 years.[5]

Blacker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.[6][7]

Personal life

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In 1975 he married Caroline Soper, youngest daughter of the radical Methodist minister Donald Soper (div. 2001). They have two children, Xan and Alice. Blacker's partner is now Angela Sykes.[8]

Publications

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  • Adult books
    • Fixx (Bloomsbury, 1989), ISBN 0-7475-0270-6
    • The Fame Hotel (Bloomsbury, 1992), ISBN 0-7475-1244-2
    • Revenance (Bloomsbury, 1996), ISBN 0-7475-2436-X
    • Kill Your Darlings (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000), ISBN 0-297-64658-3
    • You Cannot Live as I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This: The Thoroughly Disgraceful Life and Times of Willie Donaldson (Ebury, 2007), ISBN 978-0-09-191386-1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Open Directory – Arts: Literature: Authors: B: Blacker,_Terence". Open Directory Project. Archived from the original on 11 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  2. ^ "East Anglian Writers: Terence Blacker". East Anglian Writers. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  3. ^ a b c Blacker, Terence (2001). "Terence Blacker Questions & Answers". Writers Online. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  4. ^ Blacker, Terence (17 June 2002). "Plagiarism? Let's just call it postmodernism". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  5. ^ Blacker, Terence (16 December 2013), "By all means 'prepare' for old age. But don’t forget to live in the present", The Independent.
  6. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha, "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows", The Bookseller, 7 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Current RSL Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Terence Blacker official website". Archived from the original on 22 October 2012.
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