Anna Beer

Anna Beer read English Language and Literature at Oxford from 1984 to 1987, and from 1990 to 1993 at the University of Reading took a MA degree in Politics, Patronage and Literature, and a PhD on the political writings of Walter Raleigh.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anna-beer-53676b15

Her particular interests as a biographer are "the relationship between literature, politics and history" (which was the basis for her life of John Milton in 2008), and the rediscovery of neglected lives, the motivation both for her book about Bess Throckmorton, the wife of Sir Walter Raleigh (2004) and her exploration of the lives and work of female composers, Sounds and Sweet Airs: the forgotten women of classical music, which was published by Oneworld Publications in 2016 and shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards in 2017 for Creative Communication.[http://2017%20RPS%20Awards%20shortlist%20revealed%20-%20Classical%20Music%20(classical-music.com) Classical Music] More recently Eve Bites Back: an Alternative History of English Literature explores the lives and work of eight authors, including Jane Austen. It was described in the Times Literary Supplement as 'invigorating'.[https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/eve-bites-back-anna-beer-book-review-dinah-birch/ book review by Dinah Birch]

Peter Ackroyd described Beer's biography of Milton as "a persuasive reading of the power and complexity of Paradise Lost,"Ackroyd 2008. while former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion esteems it "a reliable guide to nonspecialists" and "the anniversary present he [Milton] deserves".Motion 2008. Philip Pullman called it "a beautifully clear account of a richly complex life...Fascinatingly vivid...It's the best narrative I've read of the life of our greatest public poet".

She was Lecturer in Literature at the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford between 2003 and 2010, and remains a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford.[http://Anna%20Beer%20-%20Kellogg%20College%20(ox.ac.uk) Kellogg College] She is also a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow.[http://Anna%20Beer%20-%20The%20Royal%20Literary%20Fund%20(rlf.org.uk) RLF] She was a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar from 2009 to 2010, is a mentor for the Fulbright Commission and chair of the Fulbright Alumni Council. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anna-beer-53676b15

In recent years, Beer's work has focused increasingly on gender inequality in the arts. In an interview in 2022 she said "every day I see something in the news that echoes a tired, sexist cliché (some more toxic than others) from the past – whether the 1400s or 1900s – and that fires me up again. We owe it to these historical women to celebrate their lives and work and there are people right here, right now, who need to think again about their views of women with knowledge and authority".[http://7%20Questions%20for%20Anna%20Beer%20|%20Idler The Idler]

In this connection, she participated in a 2023 television documentary about Fanny Mendelssohn, whose life as a composer was restricted until she was encouraged by her husband, Wilhelm Hensel. Beer described Hensel as "an unsung hero of the 19th century ... that rare beast, a husband, an artist in his own right, who supported 100% his artist wife ... he gave Fanny Hensel ... year after year the encouragement to take her music out to the wider world."{{cite web | first=Florence | last=Lockheart | title='Neither an Angry Rebel, Nor a Tragic Victim': Excavating the Legacy of Fanny Mendelssohn | website=classical-music.uk | date=24 October 2023 | url=https://www.classical-music.uk/features/article/neither-an-angry-rebel-nor-a-tragic-victim-excavating-the-legacy-of-fanny-mendelssohn| access-date=2024-11-06}}{{cite web | title=Fanny Mendelssohn’s real-life great-great-great granddaughter turns composer’s ‘formidable’ life into film | website=Classic FM | date=31 October 2023 | url=https://www.classicfm.com/composers/fanny-mendelssohn/the-other-composer-documentary-granddaughter/ | access-date=2024-11-06 }}{{cite news | first=Jessica | last=Duchen | author-link=Jessica Duchen | title=The remarkable life of Fanny, the other Mendelssohn | newspaper=The Times | date=24 October 2023 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-remarkable-life-of-fanny-the-other-mendelssohn-7c62wnvbd | access-date=2024-11-06 }}

• Ackroyd, Peter. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080706201916/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article3416205.ece Peter Ackroyd examines the legacy of Milton]." The Times. 22 February 2008. (accessed April 6, 2010).
• Beer, Anna. Bess: the Life of Lady Ralegh, Wife to Sir Walter. Constable and Robinson. 2004. {{ISBN|9781841195421}}
• Beer, Anna. Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot. 1st Edition. St Ives Printing and Publishing Company: Bloomsbury, 2008. {{ISBN|9780747584254}}
• Beer, Anna. [http://media.conted.ox.ac.uk/video/johnmilton.mp4 John Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot]. Lecture. Produced by Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. Performed by Anna Beer. 2008.
• Beer, Anna. [https://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/our-people/anna-beer/]
• Beer, Anna. Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music. Oneworld Publications. 2016. {{ISBN|9781780748566}}
• Crown, Sarah, and Anna Beer. "[http://audio.theguardian.tv/audio/1203684347654/5643/gdn.bks.080222.tm.Anna_Beer.mp3 Anna Beer on her new biography of poet John Milton]." The Guardian Books Podcast. 2008. Podcast.
• guardian.co.uk. "[https://www.theguardian.com/profile/annabeer Anna Beer]." guardian.co.uk. 6 April 2010. (accessed April 6, 2010).
• Motion, Andrew. "[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jan/19/biography.classics/print The mystery of genius]." The Guardian. 19 January 2008. (accessed April 6, 2010).

[http://annabeerauthor.com Anna Beer author website]

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Category:English biographers

Category:British women biographers

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Category:British women literary critics

Category:John Milton

Category:Fellows of Kellogg College, Oxford

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Category:1964 births