Iain Sinclair
For the Australian politician, see Ian Sinclair
Iain Sinclair is a British writer and film maker.
Sinclair was born on June 11, 1943. His education includes studies at Trinity College (Dublin), Courtauld Institute of Art, and London School of Film Technique (now London Film School).
Much of his early work was poetry, followed by mostly fiction, then non-fiction.
One of his earliest works is Back Garden Poems, published in 1970. He is best known for the novel Downriver published in 1991 which won the James Tait Memorial Prize and the 1992 Encore Prize. It envisages the UK under the rule of the Widow, a grotesque version of Margaret Thatcher as viewed by her harshest critics who supposedly established a one party state in a fifth term. One of his most recent works is the non-fiction London Orbital; the hard cover edition was published in 2002, along with a documentary film of the same name and subject (the paperback version came out in 2003). It describes the series of trips he took, on foot, following the M25, London's outer-ring motorway.
Written works
- Back Garden Poems - poetry (1970)
- The Kodak Mantra Diaries: Allan Ginsberg in London- documentary (1971)
- Muscat's Wurm - poetry (1972)
- The Birth Rug - poetry (1973)
- Lud Heat - poetry, 1975
- Suicide Bridge - poetry, 1979
- Flesh Eggs and Scalp Metal: Selected Poems 1970-1987 - poetry 1987
- White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings - fiction, 1987
- Downriver - novel, 1991
- Jack Elam's Other Eye - poetry
- Radon Daughters - novel, 1994
- The Ebbing of the Kraft - poetry, 1997
- Lights out for the Territory - documentary, 1997
- Slow Chocolate Autopsy - fiction, 1997
- Crash - essay, 1999
- Liquid City - non-fiction, 1999 (with Marc Atkins)
- Rodinsky's Room - non-fiction, 1999 (with Rachel Lichtenstein)
- Sorry Meniscus - essay, 1999
- Landor's Tower - novel, 2001
- London Orbital (book) - non-fiction, 2002
- Dining on Stones - novel, 2004
External links
- Iain Sinclair page from IMDb
- Complete review page
- Literary Encycopedia page on Iain Sinclair
- Fortean Times interview
- The Argotist Online interview