H is for Hawk
{{short description|2014 memoir by Helen Macdonald}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = H is for Hawk
| image = File:H is for Hawk (Macdonald novel).jpg
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| author = Helen Macdonald
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| genre = Memoir
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| publisher = Jonathan Cape
| pub_date = 2014
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| pages = 300 pp.
| awards = Samuel Johnson Prize, Costa Book of the Year
| isbn = 0-224-09700-8
| oclc = 898117636
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H is for Hawk is a 2014 memoir by British author Helen Macdonald. It won the Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book of the Year award, among other honours.
Content
H is for Hawk tells Macdonald's story of the year they spent training a Eurasian goshawk in the wake of their father's death. Their father, Alisdair Macdonald, was a respected photojournalist who died suddenly of a heart attack in 2007. Having been a falconer for many years, they purchased a young goshawk to help them through the grieving process.
Reception
The book reached The Sunday Times best-seller list within two weeks of being published in July 2014.Cambridge News, [http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/INTERVIEW-Cambridge-author-Helen-Macdonald-grief/story-22883009-detail/story.html#ixzz3Q3uQGaPk Interview: Cambridge author Helen Macdonald on grief, goshawks, and her best-selling book, H is for Hawk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206014230/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/INTERVIEW-Cambridge-author-Helen-Macdonald-grief/story-22883009-detail/story.html |date=2015-02-06 }}, Cambridge News, 7 September 2014.
In an interview with The Guardian, Macdonald said, "While the backbone of the book is a memoir about that year when I lost my father and trained a hawk, there are also other things tangled up in that story which are not memoir. There is the shadow biography of TH White, and a lot of nature-writing, too. I was trying to let these different genres speak to each other."Stephen Moss, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/05/helen-macdonald-interview-winner-samuel-johnson-prize-falconry Helen Macdonald: a bird’s eye view of love and loss], The Guardian, 5 November 2014. White was the author of The Goshawk (1951), an account of his own attempt to train a goshawk.{{cite journal|last=Jameson|first=Conor|date=January 2014|title=A place for the misfit|journal=British Birds|volume=107|issue=1|pages=2–3|issn=0007-0335}}
Kevin Jackson, writing for Literary Review, drew further comparisons between Macdonald and White, in that she resembles him "in her gluttony for words both homely and exotic, their associations and histories."{{cite news|title=On Broken Wings|last=Jackson|first=Kevin|website=Literary Review|date=1 August 2014|url=https://literaryreview.co.uk/on-broken-wings}} Macdonald's rich vocabulary is distinguished by her passion for precision, Jackson wrote: "Her eye is every bit as educated as her mind."
Judges of the Samuel Johnson Prize specifically highlighted that marriage of genres as one of the reasons for selecting H is for Hawk as the winner.
An extract of this book is part of the anthology of Edexcel English Language IGCSE in the new specification.
In media
= Television =
In "H is for Hawk: A New Chapter", part of BBC's Natural World series in 2017, Macdonald trained a new goshawk chick.{{cite web|title=H is for Hawk: A New Chapter|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09b68wy|website=BBC|accessdate=25 October 2017}}
= Film adaptation =
The film rights for the memoir were acquired by Lena Headey in April 2015, with intentions to star and produce in the adaption in conjunction with Plan B Entertainment.{{Cite web |date=20 April 2015 |title=Lena Headey has bought the film rights to the brilliant H IS FOR HAWK by Helen MacDonald. Click for more |url=https://www.knighthallagency.com/lena-headey-has-bought-the-film-rights-to-the-brilliant-h-is-for-hawk-by-helen-macdonald/ |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=Knight Hall Agency}}{{Cite news |last=Shute |first=Joe |date=8 October 2017 |title=Helen Macdonald on life after H is For Hawk and the joy of living alone at 47 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/work/47-single-childless-living-alone-wrong/ |access-date=9 February 2024 |work=The Telegraph}}{{Cite news |last=Egner |first=Jeremy |date=5 July 2017 |title=Lena Headey, Cersei in 'Game of Thrones,' Has Her Own Power Moves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/arts/television/game-of-thrones-season-7-lena-headey-cersei.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230926081710/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/arts/television/game-of-thrones-season-7-lena-headey-cersei.html |archive-date=26 September 2023 |access-date=9 February 2024 |work=The New York Times}} In February 2024, it was announced Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson were cast in the film, along with Philippa Lowthorpe named as the director and Emma Donoghue as scriptwriter. Film4 Productions will also co-produce and co-finance the adaptation with Plan B.{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |date=9 February 2024 |title=Claire Foy & Brendan Gleeson To Star In 'H Is For Hawk' For Plan B & 'Poor Things' Things Backer Film4; Protagonist Launches EFM Buzz Pic |url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/claire-foy-brendan-gleeson-hawk-planb-poor-things-film4-efm-1235820819/ |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=Deadline}} Principal photography began in Cambridge in November 2024.{{cite web|url= https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/gallery/h-hawk-begins-filming-cambridge-30302084.amp|website=Cambridge-News|accessdate=5 November 2024|title= Movie featuring Netflix star begins filming in Cambridge|first=Cait|last=Findlay|date=5 November 2024}}
Awards and honours
- 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize, winner{{cite web|last1=Clark|first1=Nick|title=Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction: Helen Macdonald wins with 'H is for Hawk'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/samuel-johnson-prize-for-nonfiction-helen-macdonald-wins-with-h-is-for-hawk-9839212.html|work=The Independent|date=5 November 2014 |accessdate=10 November 2014}}
- 2014 Costa Book of the Year, winner.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31009421|title=Helen Macdonald wins Costa Book of the Year 2014 |date=27 January 2015 |accessdate=28 January 2015 |publisher=BBC News}}
- 2014 Duff Cooper Prize, shortlist.{{cite web |title='H is for Hawk' shortlisted for the 2014 Duff Cooper Prize, longlisted for the 2014 Thwaites Wainwright Prize 2015 |url=http://www.hisforhawk.com/ |publisher=The Marsh Agency |access-date=9 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209213849/http://www.hisforhawk.com/ |archive-date=9 February 2015 }}
- 2015 Thwaites Wainwright Prize, longlist.
- 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, shortlist.{{cite web |url=http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/2016-carnegie-medals-shortlist-announced/ |title=2016 Carnegie Medals Shortlist Announced |work=American Libraries Magazine |author= |date=19 October 2015 |accessdate=15 November 2015}}
- 2016 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, winner{{Cite web|url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Meilleur+livre+%C3%A9tranger|title=Meilleur livre étranger {{!}} Book awards {{!}} LibraryThing|website=www.librarything.com|access-date=22 October 2017}}
Translations
- {{Langx|nl|De H is van havik}}. Translated by Nico Groen and Joris Vermeulen. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. 10 September 2015. {{ISBN|9789023492412}}.
- {{Langx|es|H de Halcón}}. Translated by Joan Eloi Roca. Barcelona: Ático de los Libros. 7 October 2015. {{ISBN|9788416222094}}.
- {{Langx|it|Io e Mabel. Ovvero l'arte della falconeria.|4=Me and Mabel. Or, the Art of Falconry}}. Translated by Anna Rusconi. Turin: Einauldi. 26 January 2016. {{ISBN|9788806213381}}.
- {{Langx|ca|F de falcó}}. Translated by Ricard Vela. Barcelona: Àtic dels llibres. 16 March 2016. {{ISBN|9788416222087}}.
- {{Langx|fi|H niin kuin haukka}}. Translated by Irmeli Ruuska. Helsinki: Gummerus. 17 March 2016. {{ISBN|9789512402670}}.
- {{Langx|pl|J jak jastrząb}}. Translated by Hanna Jankowska. Sękowa: Czarne. 11 May 2016. {{ISBN|9788380492974}}.
- {{Langx|pt|F de falcão}}. Translated by Maria Carmelita Dias. Rio de Janeiro: Intrínseca. 8 June 2016. {{ISBN|9788580578140}}.
- {{Langx|zh|鷹與心的追尋|Yīng yǔ xīn de zhuīxún|Eagle and Heart's Quest}}. Translated by Chen Jialin. Taipei: Xīn jīngdiǎn tú wén chuánbò yǒuxiàn gōngsī. 3 August 2016. {{ISBN|9789865824648}}.
- {{Langx|fr|M pour Mabel|4=M for Mabel}}. Translated by Marie-Anne de Béru. Paris: Fleuve éditions. 25 August 2016. {{ISBN|9782823843903}}.
- {{Langx|tr|Atmacanın A’sı}}. Translated by Kıvanç Güney. Istanbul: Monokl. 26 October 2017. {{ISBN|9786055159641}}.
- {{Langx|de|H wie Habicht}}. Translated by Ulrike Kretschmer. Berlin: Ullstein. 17 November 2017. {{ISBN|9783548377353}}.
- {{Langx|sv|H som i hök}}. Translated by Meta Ottosson. Stockholm: Brombergs. 4 November 2022. {{ISBN|9789178092550}}.
- {{Langx|lt|V kaip vanagas}}. Translated by Kristina Aurylaitė. Vilnius: Baltos lankos. 20 September 2023. {{ISBN|9786094797804}}.
See also
References
{{Reflist|28em}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2014 non-fiction books