Francis King
Francis King was a notable British novelist and short story writer, born in Adelboden, Switzerland, in 1923. He spent much of his early life in India, where his father worked as a deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau. After his father's passing, King moved to England and attended several educational institutions, including Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he began to write poetry and novels. His education was interrupted by World War II, during which he served as a conscientious objector, working on the land.
King's literary career flourished after the war, marked by his extensive travels and experiences in countries such as Italy, Greece, and Japan, which heavily influenced his writing. His first major novel, *The Dividing Stream*, was published in 1951 and received critical acclaim, including the Somerset Maugham Prize. He later explored themes of homosexuality openly in his work, particularly with *The Domestic Animal* in 1970. Throughout his career, King received numerous accolades, including the OBE in 1979 and the Commander of the British Empire in 1986, and he played a significant role in the literary community, serving in various capacities with organizations like PEN. His body of work is celebrated for its craftsmanship and exploration of human themes, making him a respected figure in contemporary literature.
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Francis King
Author
- Born: March 4, 1923
- Birthplace: Adelboden, Switzerland
- Died: July 3, 2011
Biography
Francis King, the third of four children born to Eustace Arthur Cecil and Faith Mina Read King, was born in Adelboden, Switzerland, while his parents were visiting his father’s mother. Arthur King was the deputy director of India’s Intelligence Bureau, and King spent a happy childhood in India until he was sent to Rose Hill Preparatory School in Banstead, Surrey, England, at the age of eight. Although unhappy at boarding school, King won a scholarship to the public school at Shrewsbury and began to write his first poetry. It was at Shrewsbury that King first displayed his convictions as a pacifist when he refused to join the Officers Training Corps there.
When King was fourteen his father died of tuberculosis and his family’s fortunes changed considerably. King’s mother and sisters returned to England to a less affluent way of life than they had enjoyed in India. King won a scholarship to Balliol College at Oxford, but his education was interrupted by World War II. As a declared conscientious objector, he was sent to work on the land for the duration of the war. He returned to Oxford after the war to complete his education and received his B.A. in 1949 and his M.A. in 1951. He published his first three novels while still at Oxford.
Eager to see the world, King joined the British Council in order to work abroad, lecturing in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Finland, and Japan. King drew material for his novels from his extensive travels. His time in Florence, Italy, provided the inspiration for The Dividing Stream (1951), his first novel to be published in both Great Britain and the United States, and won the Somerset Maugham prize. His experience in Japan produced one of his finest novels, The Custom House (1961), and his prize-winning short story, “The Japanese Umbrella” (1964). In 1964, King returned to England and began to set most of his novels there. Beginning in 1970, he became very open about his homosexuality and dealt with it in his work, particularly in The Domestic Animal (1970).
King was a member of the executive committee of PEN from 1969 to 1973 and was chairman of the Society of Authors from 1975 to 1977. He was president of international PEN from 1986 to 1989, helping to establish a PEN center in the Soviet Union and Nigeria. He received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1952, the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Prize in 1965, the Order of the British Empire in 1979, the Yorkshire Post Prize in 1983, and the Commander of the British Empire in 1986. He was long-listed for the Booker Prize in 2003. King has had a prolific career as a respected novelist and short story writer, known for both his craftsmanship and humanity.