The Writers of Wales Database

DUDMAN, CLARE

Email: clare@claredudman.com
Website: www.claredudman.com
Blog: http://keeperofthesnails.blogspot.com
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Clare Dudman was born in North Wales of South Welsh parents. She was brought up in England and educated at the University of Durham and King’s college, London. She has a PhD in Chemistry and has worked as a postdoctoral Research Associate in UMIST, a development scientist in industry, a science teacher, a lecturer and as a creative writing tutor for the WEA and the MA in creative writing at Chester University. In 1995 her children’s novel Edge of Danger (Dutton, 1995) won the Kathleen Fidler award and in 2001 an excerpt from Wegener’s Jigsaw (Sceptre, 2003) won an Arts Council of England Writers award. She is also a prize-winning short story writer and has received grants from both the Arts Council and the Authors' Foundation to fund her research. She is currently an editor at the Writers Workshop and is a freelance writer for the University of Columbia in the US. She is married with two sons and lives in Chester where she is chairperson of Chester Writers.

Clare Dudman has travelled extensively in order to write her novels including trips to north-west Greenland and remote parts of China. To write her novel A Place of Meadow and Tall Trees she toured Patagonia interviewing the descendants of the Welsh settlers and took courses on Welsh and Shamanism. Clare is an experienced speaker and had given talks and workshops at over 50 venues for audiences from 1 to 200 people.

Reviews:
With respect to Wegener’s Jigsaw (Sceptre, 2003)

"…a beautiful first person narrative of this passionate man’s life…"
The Times

"…A splendid vehicle for a depiction of a time, not so long ago, when science could still cost you your life…"
The Independent

"...The animus of motivation, the thrill of adventure and the terrifying beauty of a forbidding region are all described with profound insight..."
The Daily Telegraph

"...exquisite writing...A bitter sweet tale of endurance of body and soul, heart rending in its beauty..."
The Good Book Guide

"...A first-person narrative in Wegener's voice, this story artfully captures his Arctic expeditions and evokes a life of scientific obsession and discovery..."
New York Times

"...Dudman's prose is luminous ..(and she) displays an astute gift for characterization…emotional yet understated …(a) wise, beautiful novel..."
Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

"...Dudman artfully channels Wegener’s voice—prim and fastidious, but filled with longing—so convincingly that her book reads like an artifact of Old World exploration..."
The New Yorker, 15th March 2004


With respect to 98 Reasons for Being (Sceptre, 2004)

“...compelling... splendidly affecting...strange and stirring...”
Los Angeles Times

“... an unsettling, weirdly evocative novel, evidently superbly researched... memorably poignant...”
Times Literary Supplement

“...meticulously researched...(a) clever tale... There’s a lot to enjoy here, particularly how Hoffmann’s and Hannah’s stories—history and mythology—come crashing together so skillfully...”
Washington Post

“...A beautifully written, emotionally powerful biographical novel..."
Michele Leber Booklist

“...Dudman’s artistry matches her historic research, and the combination is very rich...”
Kirkus

“...a meaty read, full of fascinating information layered through the narrative, and a poignant story of love and betrayal, racism and abuse...”
Sunday Independent, February 13th 2005

“...gripping... the plot gradually unravels in a most absorbing manner, clues and hints subtly weaving their way into the book…a new voice in original entertaining and challenging fiction...”
The Big Issue


Selected Publications:
Edge of Danger (Dutton, 1995)
Wegener’s Jigsaw (Sceptre, 2003) / US - One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead (Viking, 2004)
98 Reasons for Being (Sceptre, 2004)
A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees (Seren, 2010)

Wegener’s Jigsaw (Sceptre, 2003) / US - One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead (Viking, 2004)

On the twelfth of May 1931, 118 miles inland on Greenland’s ice sheet the body of a man called Alfred Wegener was found in the snow. There was a little frost bite on his nose and hands, but nothing to prevent travel and nothing to say how or when he died...

Wegener’s Jigsaw gives a fictionalised account of the heroic life of Alfred Wegener - the originator of the contentious theory of Continental Drift. He received widespread ridicule for his ideas and tragically did not live to witness its general acceptance by the scientific community in the 1960s.

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98 Reasons for Being (Sceptre, 2004)

It is 1852 and Dr Heinrich Hoffmann, an historical figure, has recently been appointed to the position of superintendent of the asylum for the insane in the free city of Frankfurt in Germany Until now Dr Hoffmann’s life has been a search for what is important and his main claim to fame is as author of a book for children: Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter) - an illustrated book of cautionary tales. However, just recently, a new case has been admitted: a young Jewish girl called Hannah Meyer. For months she has not been eating, sleeping or speaking and Dr Hoffmann is confident that he will find a cure.

To purchase this title from gwales.com, please click on its front cover



A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees (Seren, 2010)

It is 1865 and 150 impoverished colonists land at one of the most remote places on the planet: Patagonia. Their leader, Edwyn Lloyd, has promised them a paradise - a place of meadows and tall trees. Instead they find a cold desert and marauding tribes of Tehuelche Indians. As they struggle to survive help comes from where they least expect it.

The story centres on three characters: Edwyn Lloyd, one of the disenchanted colonists, Silas James and Yeluc, an old Telhuelche Indian chief who becomes fascinated by the new white people on the Tehuelche land. Each man learns from the other: Yeluc learns of other heavens; Silas learns about compassion and the reward of simply waiting; while Edwyn learns the vital importance of love. Together they survive, and eventually come to see that the colony has the potential to thrive.

To purchase this title from gwales.com, please click on its front cover