The Wonder of Winterson

I first discovered Jeanette Winterson, the contemporary multi award-winning British writer, in the early 1990’s.  This line from one of her early novels, ‘I’m telling you a story. Trust me’, (‘The Passion’, 1987 and one of my favourites) catapulted me into her extraordinary, unique and idiosyncratic world of writing. She seemed to break all the rules in a great postmodernist literary explosion of talent, intertextuality and playfulness. I was hooked and so were a whole generation of international readers.

Highly creative and experimental, this author is fearless in her approach to genre, structure, narrative voice and poetic language. Above all she is a champion of the imagination. Her thematic territory ranges over issues of identity, gender, sexuality and power, and very often love. She has and still writes in almost every form. She weaves stories that may be historical or speculative fiction, magic realist or post-apocalyptic dystopian satires. Some works are better than others, to be expected when you write almost thirty books. She also teaches, broadcasts, writes social commentary and a much-loved Substack.

Winterson’s celebrated first book, the semi-autobiographical novel, ‘Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit’ celebrated its 40th birthday last year and ‘One Aladdin Two Lamps’ was published late last year. It’s an equally thrilling freewheel through history, literature, memory and philosophy. Other highlights for me are, ‘Written on the Body’ (1992), ‘Art and Lies’ (1994) and ‘The Stone Gods’ (2007). ‘Frankisstein’ (2019), is her brilliant retelling of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Jeanette Winterson is often called a ‘National Treasure’ in the U.K. Go find her.