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Val Hennessy

Val Hennessy is a British journalist who writes for the Daily Mail.

Val Hennessy, journalist, portrait by Phyllis Dupuy

Career

Hennessy taught English and drama before commencing a writing and journalistic career with the Brighton Voice, Peace News and Big Scream.

Hennessy later became a Fleet Street freelance journalist, an associate editor of Time Out and a columnist for Saga Magazine.[1] She was described by Auberon Waugh as "a handsome if elderly (by punk standards) and inescapably middle-class journalist".[2] She is best known for her work as chief literary critic for the Daily Mail from 1989 to 2004. As of 2014, she continues to write for the Daily Mail's "Retro Reads" column. Having reviewed thousands of English fiction books, Hennessy is a significant critic of British women's writing.[3] Hennessy has interviewed Luciano Pavarotti,[4] Leonard Cohen,[5] Bob Dylan, Annie Lennox, Michael Douglas, Terence Stamp, Martin Amis, Vivienne Westwood, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Geldof, David Bailey, Jeffrey Archer, Germaine Greer, Laurie Lee and José Carreras.

Throughout her career, she has also written for The Guardian,[6] The Observer, New Society, You Magazine, Spare Rib, City Limits, and London Evening Standard.

Judging panels

In 1989, Hennessy was on the controversial judging panel of the (then) Whitbread Book Award, now known as the Costa Book Awards.[7]

In 1995, she was a member of the AT&T Award for Non-fiction. Panel chair, Alan Clark, reduced the panel to laughter with his declaration that "No one may speak while the chairman is speaking and if you wish to speak, you must raise your hand".[8] In 1996 Hennessy was one of "five leading women",[9] "at the top of their respective professions"[10] making up the inaugural panel of the (then) Orange, now Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and commented vigorously on the quality of submissions by British women writers.[11] As an early judge on this award, Hennessy's comments continued to be referenced by Emma Parker in the Contemporary Women Writers journal (2004)[12] and John Ezard in The Independent (2005).[13]

Reviewing the reviewer

In a letter to Private Eye, Stephen Vizinczey credited Hennessy among a number of critics for taking his work seriously,[14] but her reviews have not always made it on to a novel's dust jacket. The New York Times found "mixed messages"[15] in her review of Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach, while Hennessy's review of A History of English Food by Clarissa Dickson Wright was cited as a demonstration of anti-intellectualism in the British media.[16]

Bibliography

  • A Little Light Friction, Chambers, 1989, ISBN 024554786X
  • In The Gutter, Quartet, 1978, ISBN 0704332302

In The Gutter received a mixed reception. Auberon Waugh called it an "admirable book" with "touches of a genuine philosophical nihilism",[17] while Joe Donnelly wrote, "In the Gutter though far from perfect would be a great addition to any punks' collection, providing you can find a copy?"[18] Lauded for the photographic record of the punk era, the book is now out of print and is in demand on the vintage book market.[19]

References

  1. ^ Fixter, Alyson. "Saga column sparks row over 'high life' in Totnes". Press Gazette. No. 20 July 2005.
  2. ^ Waugh, Auberon (29 April 1978). "Another Voice". The Spectator.
  3. ^ Zangen, Britta (2003). "Women as readers, writers, and judges: the controversy about the orange prize for fiction". Women's Studies. 32 (3): 281. doi:10.1080/00497870310066. S2CID 143858894.
  4. ^ Wilde, Jon (29 August 2005). "Inside story: Great rock'n'roll swindles". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 May 2008.
  5. ^ Hennessy, Val. "The Future Tours Concert Reviews, 1993". Web Heights. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  6. ^ Mills, Robin (February 2010). "John Miles". The Marshwood Vale Magazine.
  7. ^ David Streitfeld (10 December 1989). "BOOK REPORT". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  8. ^ Walsh, John (9 March 2005). "Diary". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014.
  9. ^ "How the Prize is judged". Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Judging". Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  11. ^ Macdonald, Marianne (16 May 1996). "Dunmore wins controversial award". The Independent.
  12. ^ Parker, Emma (2004). "Introduction, The Proper Stuff of Fiction: Defending the Domestic, Reappraising the Parochial". Contemporary British Women Writers. 57: 2.
  13. ^ Ezard, John (3 October 2005). "Orange judges to name best novelist of decade". The Guardian.
  14. ^ "In praise of Stephen Vizinczey". The Omnivore. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  15. ^ "The Skim". The New York Times. 23 July 2007.
  16. ^ "A review of A History of English Food by Clarissa Dickson Wright & its reviewers with commentary on the character of some newspapers". British Food in America. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  17. ^ Waugh, Auberon (28 April 1978). "Another Voice". The Spectator.
  18. ^ Donnelly, Joe. "Punk Book Reviews". PunkRocker. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  19. ^ Donnelly, Joe. "Punk Book Reviews". PunkRocker. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
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