Anna Smaill
{{short description|New Zealand poet and novelist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Anna Smaill
| birth_name = Anna Smaill
| birth_date = April 1979
| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand
| occupation = Poet, Writer, Violinist
| nationality = New Zealand
| alma_mater = University of Auckland
Victoria University of Wellington
University College London
| subject = Poetry
| notableworks =
| spouse = Carl Shuker
| children = 1
| awards = World Fantasy Award for Best Novel 2016.
| website = {{URL|http://www.annasmaill.com/}}
}}
Anna Smaill (born April 1979) is a New Zealand poet and novelist, and a former violinist.
Early life and education
Smaill was born in Auckland in 1979. She started playing the violin aged seven.{{cite news|last1=Kidd|first1=James|title=Anna Smaill interview: When she thought music was her calling, writing struck a chord|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/anna-smaill-interview-when-she-thought-music-was-her-calling-writing-struck-a-chord-10044159.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/anna-smaill-interview-when-she-thought-music-was-her-calling-writing-struck-a-chord-10044159.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=25 September 2015|work=The Independent|date=14 February 2015}}{{cbignore}} She studied musical performance at the University of Canterbury in the late 1990s and during her time at Canterbury, she decided to not become a professional violinist, but pursue a career in writing instead. She began studying English and music theory, before changing to the University of Auckland, from where she graduated with a master's degree in English. She spent the following year in Wellington at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with a masters in creative writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters.{{cite news |last1=Salter |first1=Caitlin |title=Wellington author Anna Smaill gains world recognition |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/70811095/wellington-author-anna-smaill-gains-world-recognition |accessdate=25 September 2015 |work=The Dominion Post |date=6 August 2015}} She lived in Tokyo, Japan, from 2004 to 2006. Smaill started a PhD in contemporary American poetry at University College London in the United Kingdom, and finished it after returning to live in Wellington in 2013.{{cite news |last1=Gates |first1=Charlie |title=Christchurch inspires Booker nominee |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/71089306/Kiwi-authors-Booker-novel-partly-inspired-by-Christchurch|accessdate=25 September 2015|work=The Press|date=15 August 2015|page=A12}} She was a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire from 2009 to 2012.{{cite web|title=Anna Smaill: Feel the fear and read it anyway|url=http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/anna-smaill-feel-the-fear-and-read-it-anyway/|publisher=Booknotes|accessdate=25 September 2015|date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926124953/http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/anna-smaill-feel-the-fear-and-read-it-anyway/|archive-date=26 September 2015|url-status=dead}}
Writing
Smaill was included in the Best New Zealand Poems series in 2002{{cite web | url=http://www.vuw.ac.nz/modernletters/bnzp/2002/introduction.htm | title=Best New Zealand Poems 2002-Introduction | publisher=International Institute of Modern Letters | work=Best New Zealand Poems | date=March 2003 | accessdate=25 September 2015 | author=Smither, Elizabeth }} and 2005.{{cite web | url=http://www.victoria.ac.nz/modernletters/bnzp/2005/contents.htm | title=Best New Zealand Poems 2005-Contents | publisher=International Institute of Modern Letters | work=Best New Zealand Poems | date=March 2006 | accessdate=25 September 2015 | author=Johnston, Andrew }} Her first collection of poetry, The Violinist in Spring, was published in 2006. Her first novel, The Chimes, was published in 2015 and was longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize,{{cite web|title=Man Booker Prize announces 2015 longlist|url=http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-announces-2015-longlist|accessdate=29 July 2015}}{{cite web|title=Smaill, Anna|url=http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/Writers/Profiles/Smaill,%20Anna|accessdate=29 July 2015}} but did not make the shortlist.{{cite news |title=Pulitzer winner makes Booker Prize shortlist |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34255672 |website=BBC News |accessdate=26 September 2015 |date=15 September 2015}} She had been unaware that her publisher had submitted The Chimes for the award. The Chimes was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in October 2016.
Smaill writes her work in longhand before typing it up. The collection of poems and her debut novel are the only two books published by Smaill so far; as of 2015, she had started writing a second novel.{{cite news|title=New Zealand writer longlisted for Man Booker Prize|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11489004|accessdate=25 September 2015|work=The New Zealand Herald|date=30 July 2015}}
Family
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.annasmaill.com/ Official website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160819104554/http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/Writers/Profiles/Smaill,%20Anna/ New Zealand Book Council website: author profile]
{{World Fantasy Award Best Novel}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smaill, Anna}}
Category:Writers from Auckland
Category:New Zealand women novelists
Category:World Fantasy Award–winning writers
Category:University of Auckland alumni
Category:International Institute of Modern Letters alumni