Daley-Clarke, Donna

PERSONAL:

Education: University of East Anglia, M.A.

CAREER:

Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Commonwealth First Novel Prize, 2006, for Lazy Eye; also Hawthornden fellowship and writer's awards from the Society of Authors, the Jerwood foundation, and the Arts Council England.

WRITINGS:

Lazy Eye, Scribner (London, England), 2005, MacAdam Cage (San Francisco, CA), 2007.

Short fiction has been read on Radio 4 in Great Britain, has appeared in magazines, and has been anthologized.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her first novel, Lazy Eye, Donna Daley-Clarke tells the story of Geoffhurst Johnson, a young black man in Great Britain who witnesses the murder of his mother by his father after a heated argument in the kitchen. The story is told in flashbacks by various characters in the book, including Geoffhurst and Geoffhurst's father, Sonny. The title of the book refers to Geoffhurst's lazy eyes, which make him see things in more than one way. "I haven't read many better descriptions of a killer losing control," wrote a Telegraph.co.uk contributor about Sonny's version of the murder. The novel also details Sonny's life as a one of the first black footballers in Great Britain who, partly because of the prejudice he faces on and off the field, ultimately self-destructs. Lazy Eye received widespread praise from the critics. Caroline M. Hallsworth, writing in the Library Journal, noted that Daley-Clarke's "prose is lyrical and original." In a review on the Black Britain Web site, Julie Ann Ryan referred to Lazy Eye as "imaginative and funny" and also noted: "Whenever the story seemed to be dragging down a little the author would inject something into the story line just at the right time to get the readers attention again and draw you back into its world."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Lazy Eye, p. 61.

Bookseller, February 10, 2006, "British Wins at Commonwealth," p. 11.

Library Journal, March 1, 2007, Caroline M. Hallsworth, review of Lazy Eye, p. 69.

Publishers Weekly, January 29, 2007, review of Lazy Eye, p. 43.

ONLINE

Black Britain,http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/ (July 10, 2006), Julie Ann Ryan, "Donna Daley Clarke rekindles memories in Lazy Eye."

British Council,http://www.britishcouncil.org/ (October 6, 2007), Donna Daley-Clarke, "Writers Talk Books."

Telegraph.co.uk,http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (July 27, 2005), "Witness to a Murder," review of Lazy Eye.