Julia Armfield
{{short description|British author}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Julia Armfield
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1990}}{{cite web|url=https://www.notabeneprize.com/journal/a-chat-with-julia-armfield|title=A Chat With: Julia Armfield|website=Nota Bene Prize|accessdate=19 February 2024}}
| birth_place = Cobham, Surrey
| nationality = British
| education = Royal Holloway, University of London
| occupation = {{hlist|Writer}}
| genre = {{hlist|Horror|Romance}}
| years_active = 2019 – present
| notable_works = {{hlist|Salt Slow (2020)|Our Wives Under the Sea (2022)}}
| awards = Polari Prize (2023)
}}
Julia Armfield is an English author. She has published a collection of short stories, Salt Slow (2019), and two novels, Our Wives Under the Sea (2022), and Private Rites (2024).{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/julia-armfield-recommends-6-books-095206943.html|title=Julia Armfield recommends 6 books that charm, excite and surprise|website=Yahoo!|date=17 July 2023|accessdate=13 October 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/culture/our-wives-under-the-sea-julia-armfield-novel-b2026122.html|title=Our Wives Under the Sea author Julia Armfield: 'Horror and romance spring from the same core'|first=Kate|last=Wyver|date=1 March 2022|accessdate=13 October 2023|website=Independent}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/03/queer-writers-exploring-sexuality-and-gender-through-sea-life|title='Like moving through water while everyone is on land': the writers exploring sexuality through sea life|first=Ella|last=Braidwood|date=3 February 2023|accessdate=13 October 2023|website=The Guardian}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/30/julia-armfield-salt-slow-interview|title=Julia Armfield: 'There's freedom in the monster being the norm'|first=Rhiannon Lucy|last=Cosslett|date=30 May 2019|accessdate=13 October 2023|website=The Guardian}}{{Cite news |last=Feigel |first=Lara |date=2024-06-20 |title=Private Rites by Julia Armfield review – in deep water |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jun/20/private-rites-by-julia-armfield-review-in-deep-water |access-date=2024-06-27 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Our Wives Under the Sea was nominated for the Foyles Fiction Book of the Year Award and Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, winning the Polari Prize in 2023.{{Cite news |last=Creamer |first=Ella |date=2023-11-24 |title=Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom win the Polari prizes for LGBTQ+ books |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/24/julia-armfield-and-jon-ransom-win-the-polari-prizes-for-lgbtq-books |access-date=2023-11-25 |issn=0261-3077}}{{cite web | last=Anderson | first=Porter | title=Polari Prize 2024 Winners: Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom | website=Publishing Perspectives | date=2023-12-15 | url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2023/12/londons-polari-prizes-name-armfield-and-ransom-their-2024-winners/ | access-date=2024-12-08}}
Early life
Work
In an interview with Sam Manzella of Them, Armfield said that her debut novel was in part inspired by a wish to explore the "crossover with queer women’s fiction and the sea," adding that the ocean is often used to symbolise both "something forbidden" and something that "can be many things at once."{{cite web|date=12 July 2022|title=Read Me: This Eerie Gothic Novel Is Dripping With Lesbian Drama|url=https://www.them.us/story/our-wives-under-the-sea-read-me-q-and-a|author-last=Manzella|author-first=Sam|access-date=13 October 2023|work=Them}} In an interview with Sam Franzini of Our Culture Mag, she stated that the novel was in part "about an anticipation of grief and losing someone," adding that part of the horror was from "the clanging bureaucracy of not being able to get an answer."{{Cite web|url=https://ourculturemag.com/2022/06/26/author-spotlight-julia-armfield-our-wives-under-the-sea/|title=Author Spotlight: Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea|first=Sam|last=Franzini|date=June 26, 2022|website=Our Culture Mag|accessdate=13 October 2023}}
Awards
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Title !Award !Category !Result !{{Abbr|Ref|Reference}} |
| rowspan="2" |2022
| rowspan="6" |Our Wives Under the Sea | rowspan="2" |Goodreads Choice Awards |Debut |{{Nom}} | |
|---|
| Fiction
|{{Nom}} | |
| rowspan="4" |2023
|Foyles Fiction Book of the Year Award |— |{{Nom}} | |
| Kitschies
|Debut ("Golden Tentacle") |{{Sho}} | |
| Lambda Literary Award
|{{Sho}} | |
| Polari Prize
|— |{{Won}} | |
Bibliography
=Short story collections =
- {{Cite book |last=A |title=Salt Slow |publisher=Picador |year=2019 |isbn=9781529012569 |edition=1st hardcover |language=en |author-mask=2}} {{cite web | title=Ian Mond Reviews Salt Slow by Julia Armfield | website=Locus Online | date=2019-12-30 | url=https://locusmag.com/2019/12/ian-mond-reviews-salt-slow-by-julia-armfield/ | access-date=2024-12-08}}
=Novels=
- {{Cite book |last=A |title=Our Wives Under the Sea |publisher=Picador |year=2022 |isbn=9781529017229 |edition=1st paperback |language=en |author-mask=2}} {{cite web | last=Tobin | first=Katie | title=How Julia Armfield Wrote the Year’s Most Terrifying Love Story | website=AnOther | date=2022-03-15 | url=https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13946/julia-armfield-novel-queer-love-story-our-wives-under-the-sea | access-date=2024-12-08}}{{cite web | last=Edemariam | first=Aida | title=Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield – deep emotions | website=the Guardian | date=2022-03-09 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/09/our-wives-under-the-sea-by-julia-armfield-review-orpheus-woman-collective-fears | access-date=2024-12-08}}{{cite web | last=Charles | first=Ron | title=‘Our Wives Under the Sea’ is exquisitely suspenseful | website=Washington Post | date=2022-07-12 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/07/12/our-wives-under-the-sea-julia-armfield/ | access-date=2024-12-08}}
- {{Cite book |last=A |title=Private Rites |date= |publisher=Fourth Estate |year=2024 |isbn=9780008608033 |edition=1st hardcover |language=en |author-mask=2}} {{cite web | last=Huang | first=Esther | title=Julia Armfield’s ‘Private Rites’ fights to tread water with apocalyptic ‘King Lear’ retelling | website=www.dailycal.org | date=2024-12-05 | url=https://www.dailycal.org/arts/books/julia-armfield-s-private-rites-fights-to-tread-water-with-apocalyptic-king-lear-retelling/article_6958fd5a-b35f-11ef-a987-7b46040a7df1.html | access-date=2024-12-08}}{{cite web | last=Goodman | first=Allegra | title=Book Review: ‘Private Rites,’ by Julia Armfield | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-29 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/books/review/private-rites-julia-armfield.html | access-date=2024-12-08}}{{cite web | last=Peirson-Hagger | first=Ellen | title=Private Rites by Julia Armfield review – familial conflict before the final days | website=the Guardian | date=2024-06-02 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jun/02/private-rites-by-julia-armfield-review-familial-conflict-before-the-final-days | access-date=2024-12-08}}{{cite web | title=a dystopian world where it always rains | website=Financial Times | date=2024-06-05 | url=https://www.ft.com/content/0d66df51-6298-4151-950c-f96444c914a8 | access-date=2024-12-08}}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Armfield, Julia}}
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:21st-century English women writers
Category:Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London
Category:English LGBTQ writers
Category:English women novelists
Category:People from Cobham, Surrey
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