Patrick McGuinness, Professor of French and
Comparative Literature at St Anne’s College,
was awarded the Writer’s Guild Award for Best
Fiction Book last week for his novel The Last Hundred Days.
Set in 1989 Bucharest, the novel narrates the
last days of Ceucescu’s rule of Romania through
the extraordinary experiences of a fictional English academic who accepts a job in a Romanian
university. The unnamed narrator, leaving behind a series of traumatising memories ventures into the chaos of Communist Romania.
There, he finds intense poverty and despair
juxtaposed with lavish meals at the elegant
Caspa Hotel, where expats and party apparatchiks drown away their guilt. In particular, the
narrator finds himself mixing with a medley of
different personalities: activist human traffickers; the extravagant, nonchalant Leo, a black
market expert; and the nostalgic, wistful and
yet determined Trofim, an ex-Party leader who
is engaged in writing two memoirs, a censored
version, and an honest one.
The novel, which is semi-autobiographical,
deals with some of the experiences which
McGuinness himself had while in Romania. In particular, the book explores the
theme of memory. In a city being ruined and destroyed by a totalitarian
regime, memories are perceived to
be more valuable than real life.
The award, which was presented to the author last Wednesday,
is the latest of a number of accolades towards the novel following its publication last year, which
included Man Booker Prize and Costa
Book Awards shortlists.
Professor McGuinness’ academic work
has focussed on the writings of T. E.
Hulme and Stephane Mallarmé, while
he has also in the past published a number of
poetry collections, some of which have been
translated into French and Italian. His latest
poetry collection, Jilted City, was published in
2010.
The Writer’s Guild is an association that promotes suitable conditions for writers of all
levels and of all type across the country. Other
awards included the Best Videogame Script
category, awarded to Paul Crooker for Batman:
Arkham City, and the Special Award for Outstanding Writing awarded this year to Stephen
Moffat in recognition of his long career as a
screenwriter.
Patrick McGuinness, Professor of French and Comparative Literature at St Anne’s College, was awarded the Writer’s Guild Award for Best Fiction Book last week for his novel The Last Hundred Days.
Set in 1989 Bucharest, the novel narrates the last days of Ceucescu’s rule of Romania through the extraordinary experiences of a fictional English academic who accepts a job in a Romanian university.
The semi-autobiographical novel deals with some of the experiences which McGuinness himself had while in Romania.
The award, which was presented to the author last Wednesday, is the latest of a number of accolades towards the novel following its publication last year, which included Man Booker Prize and Costa Book Awards shortlists.
Professor McGuinness’ academic work has focussed on the writings of T. E. Hulme and Stephane Mallarmé, while he has also in the past published a number of poetry collections, some of which have been translated into French and Italian. His latest poetry collection, Jilted City, was published in 2010.
The Writer’s Guild is an association that promotes suitable conditions for writers of all levels and of all type across the country. Other awards included the Best Videogame Script category, awarded to Paul Crooker for Batman: Arkham City, and the Special Award for Outstanding Writing awarded this year to Stephen Moffat in recognition of his long career as a screenwriter.
