Fay Weldon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Weldon at theCopenhagen Book Fair in 2008 | |
| Born | Franklin Birkinshaw (1931-09-22)22 September 1931 Birmingham, England |
| Died | 4 January 2023(2023-01-04) (aged 91) Northampton, England |
| Occupation |
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| Period | 1963–2018 |
| Notable works | Puffball (1980) The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983) The Cloning of Joanna May (1989) Wicked Women (1995) The Bulgari Connection (2000) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Parents | Margaret Jepson (mother) |
| Relatives | Selwyn Jepson (uncle) Edgar Jepson (grandfather) Alan Birkinshaw (half-brother) |
Fay Weldon (bornFranklin Birkinshaw; 22 September 1931 – 4 January 2023) was an English author, essayist and playwright.
Over the course of her 55-year writing career, she published 31 novels, includingPuffball (1980),The Cloning of Joanna May (1989),Wicked Women (1995) andThe Bulgari Connection (2000), but was most well-known as the writer ofThe Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983) which wastelevised by the BBC in 1986.[1]
Married three times and with four children, Weldon was afeminist. Her work features what she described as "overweight, plain women". She said there were many reasons why she became a feminist, including the "appalling" lack of equal opportunities and the myth that women were supported by male relatives.[2][3]
Weldon was born Franklin Birkinshaw to a literary family inBirmingham, England, on 22 September 1931.[4] Her maternal grandfather,Edgar Jepson (1863–1938), her uncleSelwyn Jepson and her mother Margaret Jepson wrote novels (the latter sometimes under the nom de plumePearl Bellairs, from the name of a character inAldous Huxley's short story "Farcical History of Richard Greenow").[5]
Weldon grew up inChristchurch, New Zealand, where her father, Frank Thornton Birkinshaw, worked as a doctor.[4][6] In 1936, when she was five, her parents agreed to separate, later divorcing (1940). She and her sister Jane spent the summers with her father, first inCoromandel, later inAuckland. She attendedChristchurch Girls' High School for two years from 1944.[7] Weldon described herself as a "plump, cheerful child", stating in a blog post that began as an unpublished article for theDaily Mail: "I was born large, blonde and big-boned into a family of small beautiful women. My mother thought it was unlikely that anyone would marry me, and therefore I would have to pass exams, earn my own living and make my own way in the world. Or that’s what I thought she thought." She goes on to explain how this view of herself affected her later writing career. "I’d be happier to have been seen as a skinny, feisty child, a slim and serious adult, and a handsome octogenarian with an interesting literary past. But that was not to be, despite a lifetime of diets. It was however a state of affairs which made me write a good few novels with overweight, plain women as their heroines. I’ve always been on their side – they are the unseen majority."[8]
In September 1946, when she was 15, Weldon returned to England with her mother and sister. She recalled: "I was a literary groupie from the antipodes...Not that I had any intention of being a writer at the time – too much like hard work. All I wanted was to get married and have babies."[9] She did not see her father again before his death in 1949.[10]
In England Weldon won a scholarship to the all-girlsSouth Hampstead High School, before going on to studyPsychology andEconomics at theUniversity of St Andrews, Scotland. Later she recalled attending classes with the moral philosopherMalcolm Knox, who "spoke exclusively to the male students, maintaining that women were incapable of moral judgement or objectivity."[11] She completed herMaster of Arts in 1952 and moved to London, where she worked as a clerk at theForeign Office for a salary of £6 a week.[12]
Weldon had temporary jobs as a waitress and hospital ward orderly before working as a clerk for the Foreign Office’s secretInformation Research Department,[13] where she wrote pamphlets to be dropped inEastern Europe as part of theCold War. She had to leave this job after she became pregnant. Later she took a job withCrawford's Advertising Agency, where she worked with the writerElizabeth Smart,[14] and where she could earn enough to support herself and her young son (Nicolas).
As head ofcopywriting atOgilvy, Benson & Mather, she was responsible for publicising (but not originating) the phrase "Go to work on an egg". She coined the slogan "Vodka gets you drunker quicker", saying in aGuardian interview: "It just seemed ... to be obvious that people who wanted to get drunk fast needed to know this." Her bosses disagreed and suppressed it.[15]
In 1963 Weldon began writing for radio and television. Four years later her first novel,The Fat Woman's Joke, was published. "When I submitted my first novel in 1966 it was accepted without demur. I thought this was because I was a wonderful writer, But it wasn't. It was because I had learned to have nothing turned down."[16] She subsequently built a successful and prolific career, publishing over thirty novels, collections of short stories, films for television, newspaper and magazine articles and becoming a well-known face and voice on theBBC. She described herself as a "writeaholic".[17]
In 1971 Weldon wrote the first episode of the landmark television seriesUpstairs, Downstairs, for which she won aWriters Guild award for Best British TV Series Script.[18] In 1980 Weldon wrote the screenplay for director/producerJohn Goldschmidt's television movieLife for Christine, which told the true story of a 15-year-old girl's life imprisonment. The film was shown in prime-time on theITV Network byGranada Television. She also wrote the screenplay for the 1980 BBCminiseries adaptation ofJane Austen'sPride and Prejudice, starringElizabeth Garvie andDavid Rintoul. In 1989, she contributed to the book for thePetula Clark West End musicalSomeone Like You.
Weldon's most celebrated work is her 1983 novelThe Life and Loves of a She-Devil, which she wrote at the age of 52.
Her novelThe Hearts and Lives of Men was written and published in serial form, appearing in the British magazineWoman between 1 February and 15 November 1986. She toldThe New York Times: "It was written as the Dickens novels were written....You made it up as you went along, confined by the structure of the story, which is going to go on for you don't know how long—but you have to be able to bring it to an end with three weeks' warning."[19]
In 1993, her playMr Director was produced at theOrange Tree Theatre in London. Its subject was the treatment of juveniles in a children's home.[20]
In 2000, Weldon's novelThe Bulgari Connection became notorious for its product placement, naming the jewellers not only in the title but another 34 times, while a minimum of 12 times was stipulated in the £18,000 contract.[21]
In 1996, she was a member of the jury at the46th Berlin International Film Festival.[22] She was also chair of judges for the 1983Booker Prize. The judging for that prize produced a draw betweenJ. M. Coetzee'sLife & Times of Michael K andSalman Rushdie'sShame, leaving Weldon to choose between the two. According to Stephen Moss inThe Guardian, "Her arm was bent and she chose Rushdie" only to change her mind as the result was being phoned through.[23]
Weldon was appointed Professor of Creative Writing atBrunel University in West London in 2006: "A great writer needs a certain personality and a natural talent for language, but there is a great deal that can be taught – how to put words together quickly and efficiently to make a point, how to be graceful and eloquent, how to convey emotion, how to build up tension, and how to create alternative worlds." In 2012 Weldon was appointed Professor of Creative Writing atBath Spa University, where she shared an office with ProfessorMaggie Gee.[24]
Weldon served together withDaniel Pipes as the most notable foreign members of the board of theDanish Free Press Society.[citation needed]
A self-declared feminist, Weldon's work features what she described as "overweight, plain women" – as she deliberately sought, she said, to write about and give a voice to women who are often overlooked or not featured in the media. She said there were many reasons why she became a feminist, including "appalling" lack of equal opportunities and the myth that women were supported by male relatives. "What drove me to feminism fifty years ago was the myth that men were the breadwinners and women kept house and looked pretty."[25] She noted that the turning point for her, however, was the outright sexism in the media industry at that time, such as when she attended a casting session of a TV drama she had written and watched the male director and producer "...cast the lead by flicking through Spotlight and just choosing the girl they both most fancied. And they were amazed when I objected: female skill, talent, experience, intelligence meant nothing to them".[8]
However, some of Weldon's commentary drew controversy. In a 1998 interview for theRadio Times, Weldon stated that rape "isn't the worst thing that can happen to a woman if you're safe, alive and unmarked after the event."[26] She was roundly condemned by groups representing women victims of rape and violence.[27] In a 2017 interview on BBC Two'sNewsnight, she expressed ambivalence about the successes of feminism. Social change had been enormous, "thanks to feminism", but it wasn't all wonderful: "We saw a world of young, healthy, intelligent, striving women. And we didn't really, honestly, take much notice of those who were not like us."[28]
In 1953, while working at the Foreign Office, Weldon became pregnant by musician Colyn Davies whom she met when he was moonlighting as a doorman. She said that while she wanted the child (son Nicolas), she decided she did not want the father. In 1957, tired of struggling to support herself as a single mother, she married Ronald Bateman, a headmaster 25 years her senior.[29][30] They lived together inActon, London, for two years, until the marriage ended.[29]
In 1961, aged 29, Weldon met her second husband, Ron Weldon, a jazz musician and antiques dealer.[31] They married in 1963 when Fay was pregnant with her second son Dan (born that same year). They lived inEast Compton, Somerset, later having two more sons, Tom (1970) and Sam (1977).[citation needed] It was while she was pregnant with Dan that Weldon began writing for radio and television. The couple visited therapists regularly and in 1992 Ron left Fay for hisastrological therapist, who had told him that the couple's astrological signs were incompatible.[29] They began divorce proceedings, although Ron died in 1994, just eight hours before the divorce was finalised.[32]
In 1994 Weldon married Nick Fox, a poet who was also her manager,[33] but instigated divorce proceedings in 2020.[34]
In 2000 Weldon became a member of theChurch of England and was confirmed inSt Paul's Cathedral. She stated that she liked to think that she was "converted bySt Paul".[35]
Weldon died at a care home inNorthampton, England, on 4 January 2023, at the age of 91.[4][36] She was survived by her sons as well as twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.[37][38][39]
Love and Inheritance
Spoils of War
The Chapbooks
The Collected Novels Volume Two (2018)
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