Ann Quin
Ann Quin was an English novelist born on March 17, 1936, in Brighton, Sussex. Raised by her mother after her father abandoned the family, Quin initially aspired to be an actress but shifted her focus to writing when she felt too nervous to audition for drama school. Her first novel, *Berg* (1964), garnered critical acclaim and financial support, allowing her to travel and explore themes of identity and complex relationships in her subsequent works. Throughout her life, Quin faced mental health challenges, experiencing multiple hospitalizations that influenced her writing. She completed four novels known for their experimental styles, though her later works received mixed reviews due to their increasingly complex narratives. Tragically, Quin's life ended when she drowned off the Sussex coast in August 1973, with questions surrounding her death remaining unresolved. Despite a limited readership during her lifetime, Quin's contributions to literature have positioned her as an influential figure in the evolution of the British novel during the 1960s and 1970s. Her work continues to be recognized for its innovative approach to storytelling.
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Subject Terms
Ann Quin
- Born: March 17, 1936
- Birthplace: Brighton, Sussex, England
- Died: August 1, 1973
- Place of death: Off the coast of Sussex, England
Biography
Ann Marie Quin was born on March 17, 1936, in Brighton, Sussex, England. Her mother was Ann Reid Quin and her father was Nicholas Montague, a former opera singer. Quin’s father left the family when she was a baby and she was raised by her mother. Although she was not Catholic, Quin attended school at the Convent of the Blessed Sacrament in Brighton. When she was seventeen, she spent six weeks as an assistant stage manager of a theater company. She aspired to be an actress and applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Too nervous to audition, she decided to be a writer instead.
While completing her first novel, she held various jobs, mainly performing secretarial duties, in London and Brighton. She had her first bout of mental illness during this period; she experienced recurrences throughout the rest of her life, resulting in several hospitalizations. Quin’s first novel, Berg (1964), attracted considerable critical interest and earned Quin sufficient funds to travel as she continued writing. She drew on her travels in Greece, Ireland, and the United States in her later novels. The four novels Quin completed during her lifetime are notable for their extreme experiments with style. Similar themes recur throughout the novels; central to the fiction is the struggle of characters seeking to determine their own identities, usually in the context of triangular relationships with other characters.
Berg earned Quin the D. H. Lawrence Fellowship from the University of New Mexico and the Harkness Fellowship, awarded to the most promising Commonwealth artist under the age of thirty. Her later novels were less well received and drew criticism for a writing style that made the plots increasingly difficult to follow. After completing Tripticks (1972), her fourth novel, Quin was hospitalized for a month with mental illness and unable to speak. After being released from the hospital, Quin began a fifth novel and studied at Hillcroft College, which prepared students for university admission. She had been accepted to study English at the University of East Anglia when she drowned off the Sussex coast in August, 1973. Although some sources state that her death was a suicide, the coroner’s inquest was inconclusive.
A fragment of her unfinished novel was published after her death, and the style was much more accessible than that of her previous work. A film version of Berg titled Killing Dad was released in 1989 but was not successful. Ann Quin—A Turn of Tides, a theatrical adaptation of Quin’s first three novels written by Christine Fox, played in Brighton in 1997. Quin’s writing never gained wide readership. However, her novels earned her a place in literary history as one of several novelists of the 1960’s and early 1970’s seeking new forms to revitalize the British novel.