James Kelman | |
|---|---|
 Kelman speaks to Librairie Mollat about La route de Lafayette, French-language version of Dirt Road, in 2019 | |
| Born | 9 June 1946 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Genre | Stream of consciousness, absurdist fiction, paranoid fiction |
| Notable works | A Disaffection (1989) How Late It Was, How Late (1994) Kieron Smith, Boy (2008) |
| Notable awards | Booker Prize 1994: How Late It Was, How Late Saltire Awards 2008: Kieron Smith, Boy |
| Spouse | Marie Connors, m. 1969 |
James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His fiction and short stories feature accounts of internal mental processes of usually, but not exclusively, working class narrators and their labyrinthine struggles with authority or social interactions, mostly set in his home city of Glasgow. Frequently employing stream of consciousness experimentation, Kelman's stories typically feature "an atmosphere of gnarling paranoia, imprisoned minimalism, the boredom of survival.".[1][2]
His novel A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won the 1994 Booker Prize with How Late It Was, How Late.[3] In 1998, Kelman was awarded the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award. His 2008 novel Kieron Smith, Boy won both of Scotland's principal literary awards: the Saltire Society's Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year.[4]
- ^ McQuillan, M. "James Kelman". British Council. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- ^ Wood, James. "Away Thinking About Things". New Yorker. New Yorker. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- ^ Winder, Robert (12 October 1994). "'Foul-mouthed' novel is pounds 20,000 Booker winner". The Independent. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "Kelman picks up Scottish novel of the year award". The Herald. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2022.