Claire Adam

{{Short description|Trinidadian author}}

{{use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox author

| name = Claire Adam

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Port of Spain, Trinidad

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Trinidad & Tobago
Republic of Ireland

| alma_mater = Brown University;
Goldsmiths, University of London

| occupation = Writer

| notable_works = Golden Child (2019)

| awards = Desmond Elliott Prize
McKitterick Prize

}}

Claire Adam is a Trinidadian author whose first novel Golden Child triggered critical acclaim.

On 5 November 2019, the BBC News listed Golden Child on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

Biography

Claire Adam was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the youngest of four children of her Trinidadian father and Irish mother.{{cite journal|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-155/claire-adam-own-words#axzz7jKdKdB3N|title=Claire Adam: 'I've always felt, ask me where I'm from!' {{!}} Own words|first=Nicholas|last=Laughlin|author-link=Nicholas Laughlin|journal=Caribbean Beat|issue=155|date=January–February 2019|access-date=31 October 2022}}

Leaving Trinidad at the age of 18, Adam went to the United States, where she studied Physics at Brown University.{{cite web|url=https://www.rcwlitagency.com/authors/adam-claire/|title=Claire Adam|website=RCW Literary Agency|access-date=31 October 2022}} She then lived for some years in Italy and Ireland, before settling in London, England.{{cite web|url=https://writersmosaic.org.uk/people/claire-adam/|title=Claire Adam|website=Writers Mosaic|access-date=31 October 2022}} She earned an MA degree in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she began work on her first novel, Golden Child (2019), which was awarded the 2019 Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel.{{cite web|url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/our-people/profile-hub/english-and-creative-writing/pg/claire-adam/|title=Claire Adam|publisher=Goldsmiths, University of London|access-date=31 October 2022}} Golden Child also won the 2020 McKitterick Prize, the 2019 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, and was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award.{{cite web|url= https://www.bocaslitfest.com/participant/claire-adam/|title=Participants {{!}} Claire Adam|website=Bocas Lit Fest|access-date=31 October 2022}}

Awards and recognition

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

!Work!! Award !! Category !! Result !! Ref

rowspan="2" |2019

| rowspan="7" |Golden Child

|Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award

|Fiction|| {{Won}}

|{{Cite web |last=Reid |first=Calvin |title=Adam, Young Win B&N 2019 Discover New Writers Awards |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/82305-adam-young-win-b-n-2019-discover-new-writers-awards.html|date=31 January 2020 |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}

Desmond Elliott Prize{{Won}}{{Cite web |title=Desmond Elliott Prize |url=https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/desmond-elliott-prize/ |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=National Centre for Writing {{!}} NCW |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=SJP for Hogarth Author Claire Adam Wins Desmond Elliott Prize for GOLDEN CHILD |url=https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/sjp-for-hogarth-author-claire-adam-wins-desmond-elliott-prize-for-golden-child/ |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=penguinrandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}
rowspan="5" |2020

|Authors' Club Best First Novel Award

|—|| {{Won}}

|{{Cite web |title=Best First Novel Award |url=https://www.authorsclub.co.uk/prizes/best-first-novel-award/#:~:text=Claire%20Adam%20wins%20Authors'%20Club%20Best%20First%20Novel%20Award%202020&text=17.5.20-,The%20Authors'%20Club%20is%20pleased%20to%20announce%20that%20the%20winner,by%20Claire%20Adam%20(right). |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=The Authors' Club Since 1891 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Claire Adam Wins Authors Club Best First Novel Award |url=https://www.rcwlitagency.com/news/claire-adam-wins-authors-club-best-first-novel-award/ |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=RCW Literary Agency |language=en}}

Diverse Book Awards

|Adult

|2nd Place

|{{Cite web |title=2020 WINNERS |url=https://www.thediversebookawards.co.uk/2020-winners |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=The DB Awards |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=locusmag |date=2020-07-31 |title=2020 Diverse Book Awards Longlist |url=https://locusmag.com/2020/07/2020-diverse-book-awards-longlist/ |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=Locus Online |language=en-US}}

Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award

|—

|{{Nominated|Longlisted}}

|

Jhalak Prize

|—

|{{Nominated|Longlisted}}

|{{Cite web |title=2020 |url=https://www.jhalakprize.com/2020 |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=Jhalak Prize |language=en}}

McKitterick Prize

|—

{{Won}}

|{{Cite web |date=2020-05-08 |title=McKitterick Prize - The Society of Authors |url=https://www2.societyofauthors.org/prizes/the-soa-awards/mckitterick-prize/ |access-date=2024-09-07 |language=en-GB}}

Works

  • {{Cite book |last=Claire Adam |title=Golden Child |title-link=Golden Child (novel) |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2019 |isbn=9780571339808 |edition=hardcover 1st |location=London |language=en |author-mask=2}}

References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite news

| url = https://newsday.co.tt/2019/10/21/honest-raw-look-at-trinidad/

| title = Honest, raw look at Trinidad

| work = Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

| author = Debbie Jacob

| date = 21 October 2019

| archiveurl =

| archive-date =

| access-date = 10 November 2019

| quote = Then I discovered the Trinidadian novel that will haunt me forever. Golden Child, by Claire Adam, is the novel I have been waiting to read since Miguel Street. I certainly don’t wish to discount all the great novels that define TT, but what makes this novel special and different is that it is truly an international novel that just happens to be set in Trinidad.

}}

{{cite news

| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/494P41NCbVYHlY319VwGbxp/explore-the-list-of-100-novels-that-shaped-our-world

| title = 100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts

| work = BBC News

| date = 5 November 2019

| archiveurl =

| archive-date =

| access-date = 10 November 2019

| quote = The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.

}}

{{cite news

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/03/golden-child-claire-adam-review

| title = Golden Child by Claire Adam review – which son would you choose?

| work = The Guardian

| author = Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

| date = 3 January 2019

| page =

| location =

| isbn =

| language =

| trans-title =

| archiveurl =

| archive-date =

| access-date = 10 November 2019

| quote =

}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Claire}}

Category:21st-century Trinidad and Tobago women writers

Category:21st-century Trinidad and Tobago writers

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London

Category:Recipients of Desmond Elliott Prize

Category:Trinidad and Tobago women novelists

Category:Trinidad and Tobago novelists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

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