Julia Darling
in Print

Julia Darling was a poet, playwright and fiction writer. In March 2003 she became the second winner of the the UK's biggest literary prize, the £60,000 Northern Rock Foundation Writer's Award. Fiona Ellis, the Foundation's Director, paid tribute after Julia's death: "We were incredibly proud when Julia became the second holder of our Award. She was a wonderful writer and a quite extraordinary ambassador for writing."

She was Royal Literary Fund Project Fellow at Newcastle University, where for two years she was also doing a poetry MA, which she obtained with a distinction in 2002. The books she has written or contributed to are: (click the title for more information)

Eating the Elephant and other Plays

Jeremy Herrin's preface to the plays, which New Writing North published in December 2005.

The Poetry Cure

This anthology of poems co-edited with Cynthia Fuller was published by Bloodaxe Books on April 28th 2005.

Apology for Absence

On November 10th 2004 Arc Publications published Julia's follow-up to Sudden Collapses In Public Places. The themes are familiar, but here she writes with a wider perspective, a deeper understanding, which reach out to the heart of the human condition and the greater mysteries of life, albeit in an understated way. The launch event at the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle was, says Julia "a night I shall always remember".

The Taxi Driver's Daughter

is the first novel of a two book deal for Penguin Books. The paperback edition was published on 3 June 2004, following the hardback on 7 August 2003. It tells the story of a family on the verge of collapse, caught between the escape they crave and the imperfect reality that seems to be their lot. This book was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Crocodile Soup

Julia Darling's first novel is a lyrical narrative studded with relentless humor and giddy self-deprecation, with an irresistible cast of characters whose shared story is unforgettable. Penguin republished it on 24 June 2004.

Sudden Collapses In Public Places

A book of poetry, published by Arc Publications in May 2003. "Anyone who has ever spent anytime in a hospital or in a hospital waiting room will love these poems, anyone who has ever been to the doctor or felt ill or had to fill in a form will love these poems. That covers everyone."

Tangles and Starbursts

Julia and photographer Sharon Bailey were employed by the Alzheimer's Society North Tyneside Branch to take photographs, run workshops and do individual interviews with carers and people with Alzheimer's. They also met with scientists from the Institute for Ageing and Health at the Newcastle General Hospital. This book, which won the Raymond Williams Community Publishing Prize, was the result.

Bloodlines

Panurge published this collection of Julia Darling's passionate, funny and powerful stories in 1995. Her women stride courageously through them with ambition, lust, desire and doubt.

Small Beauties

This is the first collection of poems by Julia Darling to be published, by Newcastle City Libraries in 1988.

Forecasting

A3 poster (30.7cm x 43.5cm, approx 12" x 17") of a popular Poetry Virgins poem, text Julia Darling, illustrated by artist Anti Hachler.

Other, less recent, publications.

Julia also contributed to newspapers and was interviewed for various media:

During January 2005, Julia Darling was the third Poet in Residence at Guardian Unlimited. The basic idea is that the Poet in Residence hosts an online workshop, a forum in which aspiring poets can receive unbiased feedback from people who know what they're talking about - real poets, in other words. Every month, the new poet sets an exercise. From the responses, a shortlist of between ten and fifteen was selected. She was delighted with the poems submitted, and her comments are on the Guardian website. Her concluding question was "are your poems brave enough?"

The Guardian's Saturday Poem on 27^th November 2004 was a poem from Apology for Absence, Moving to the Country.

My joints are rusty cranes: that's the title of a comment piece Julia wrote for the Guardian which was published on August 5^th 2004. Writing about her work with patients and doctors, Julia said: "I believe that poetry can help to make you better. Poetry is essential, not a frill or a nicety. ... Poetry should be part of every modern hospital, and not just something to keep patients amused. It's a powerful force, which can help us through the darkest times."

Julia was interviewedon Thursday 15^th July 2004 for the BBC Tyne website by Rahul Shrivastava and talked about her inspiration, picked her favourite music, gave a little advice to aspiring writers, and discussed her Tyneside-based novel, The Taxi Driver's Daughter. That interview remains online.

The Cure For Dying

Julia's last book, which she was still revising, is The Cure For Dying, the successor to The Taxi Driver's Daughter. The title comes courtesy of the writer Bridget O'Connor, who also thought of Crocodile Soup. As Julia says in her diary, she "should get an award for her capacity to think up titles".

Julia adds: "Two very different women from wildly different backgrounds meet in a hospital having treatment for cancer. They get to know each other and decide to travel to Brazil to see a healer there. This is a book about their relationship, and their journey, and healing oneself. It's also a bit of a road movie type book." Her research included going to Brazil herself and visiting a real healer in the mountains.

You can read more in her online diary.

Created by Julia Darling and Cornwell Internet.

Last updated on 6th June 2006 by Roger Cornwell. Copyright and terms of use