James Meek
James Meek spent several years in Russia in the 1990s and now lives in London. He has published four novels and two short story collections. In 2004 he was named Foreign Correspondent and Amnesty Journalist of The Year. His third novel, The People’s Act of Love (2005), received significant critical acclaim and went on to win the Scottish Arts Council Book of Year Award and the Ondaatje Prize. It has been translated into 20 languages. His fourth novel, We Are Now Beginning Our Descent (2008), won the Prince Maurice prize.
Books by James Meek
“James Meek has quite simply given us something technically ambitious and glorious to read. I found myself smiling and occasionally doing that strange British thing of shaking my head in admiration. It’s punchy stuff! Meek has fashioned a language both familiar and unfamiliar, in other words a language that without losing subtlety or nuance sounds ‘fourteenth century’. But readers shouldn’t be alarmed. Two pages in and you’re fluent.” Read more...
The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist
Katharine Grant, Historical Novelist
Interviews with James Meek
The best books on The Death of Empires, recommended by James Meek
All empires are obsessed with the prospect of their own decline, says British journalist and novelist James Meek. He recommends books on the death of empires, from Austria-Hungary to Kublai Khan.
Interviews where books by James Meek were recommended
The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant
Historical fiction is experiencing something of a golden age at present: there’s never been a better time to immerse oneself in the past. The acclaimed novelist Katharine Grant—chair of the judges for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction—talks us through their 2020 shortlist.
