Chris Rose

So, I’m Chris. I was born and bred in the city of steel: Sheffield. I spent – or misspent, whichever your viewpoint – the majority of my ‘young’ years on the Northern Soul circuit. I say circuit, although that mainly consisted of trips to Wigan’s ‘Casino Club’ just about every weekend, with the odd trip to other venues interspersed. My academic education came much later, from scratch, in a sense. In time, I fell in love with the idea of languages, French in particular, and went on to get a BA Hons in French Language and Literature with subsidiary Spanish at The University of Sheffield. After that, I moved down south – mid 90s – and eventually further down to the South of France for a few years, where I taught English. I then moved up to northern France to do much the same thing. But it was here where I also began to write, or experiment with writing. I came back to England in the mid-00s and lived in North London for five years, teaching and writing again. And for the last three years, I’ve lived in Norwich, where I’ve completed a Masters in Literary Translation, at the UEA. I’m now working my way toward making a living by writing, with a little translation on the side… We’ll see… To ask me what I like to read and write about is a tough one. Fiction, mainly, though I don’t necessarily go for detective fiction, or anything formulaic – I still recognise there’s real skill involved in any composition of the genre, something I don’t think I’d ever master. I tend to be picky and take my time reading a book; I expect each word to count. I like something I can come back to, read again – and again. Things witty, satirical, poetic… Things that move me. Favourite writers of late? Maybe Markas Zusak. Read his The Book Thief last year. Susanna Ross, I recently read her Trust In Me. Anna Funder, her All That I Am. Writers who manage to pull me into the water with the least effort. Soulful writers, and their soulful things. And maybe I try to emulate them…
http://woodtalcandmrj.com/