'Walking into the unknown'

 

“With a novel, there is no hurrying it. You're constantly walking into the unknown.” – Tobias Hill

 

Born in North London on this date in 1970, Hill is the prizewinning author of five novels, four volumes of poetry, a short story collection and a children's book.   He also is a critically acclaimed essayist.

Amongst contemporary British authors, Hill is unusual in achieving critical recognition in such a wide range of writing with works in all those fields published worldwide.   

 

Secrecy, revelation and obsession are recurrent themes in Hill's novels, which have all been best sellers.  His short stories have won the prestigious International PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award.  And, his poetry has been called “luminous” and “unforgettable.”

When asked what he likes best in his writing life, he said probably poetry because it provides him the biggest challenge.

 “At school, I was never given a sense that poetry was something flowery or light. It's a complex and controlled way of using language,” he said.  “Rhythms and the music of it are very important. But the difficulty is that poetry makes some kind of claim of honesty.”