GRIEVE, James 1934-

PERSONAL:

Born November 14, 1934, in Belfast, Northern Ireland; son of William Shanks Grieve (a telephone engineer) and Christina Storrie Mason; divorced; father of three children and two stepchildren. Education: Queens University, B.A. (with honors; French and Spanish); Australian National University, M.A. (with honors). Politics: "Left of centre." Hobbies and other interests: Writing, bottling wine, squash.

ADDRESSES:

Home—15 McGowan St., Dickson, Australian Capital Territory 2602, Australia. Office—School of Language Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia. E-mail—James.Grieve@anu.edu.au.

CAREER:

Lecturer in French language and literature, author on French language, translator of French literature, book reviewer, and fiction writer for young adults. Visiting fellow, Australian National University. Also worked variously as an apprentice spy in Melbourne, Australia, and in heavy industry, also in Australia.

MEMBER:

Abortion Law Reform Association (officer), Homosexual Law Reform Association (officer), Euthanasia Law Reform Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Guardian Children's Fiction Award shortlist, 1988, for A Season of Grannies.

WRITINGS:

(Translator) Robert Lacour-Gayet, A Concise History of Australia, Penguin Books Australia (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1975.

(Translator) Marcel Proust, A Search for Lost Time. Swann's Way, Australian National University (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia), 1982.

A Season of Grannies (for young adults), University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia, and New York, NY), 1987.

Dictionary of Contemporary French Connectors, Routledge (New York, NY), 1996.

They're Only Human (for young adults), Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia), 2001.

(Translator) Marcel Proust, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, Viking (New York, NY), 2004.

A Season of Grannies was also published in French as Grands-mères à louer, by Ecole des loisirs (Paris, France), 1990.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The Future Ain't What It Used to Be, Al Jolson's a Sexagenarian, Fun Times, and a translation and stage adaptation of Voltaire's Candide, all for adults.

SIDELIGHTS:

James Grieve, who for more than thirty-five years has been a noted French language scholar, has also authored two novels for teens, A Season of Grannies and They're Only Human. Both books confront mature, sensitive subjects such as the animal rights movement, sexual abuse, and euthanasia. Grieve has lived and worked in many parts of the world, including Ireland, Scotland, France, London, and Australia, but describes himself as having no national identity.

Published in 1987, A Season of Grannies was Grieve's first novel for young adults. It was shortlisted for the United Kingdom's Guardian Children's Fiction Award and was later translated into French.

They're Only Human, Grieve's second young-adult novel, followed in 2001. Grieve tackles tough moral issues such as animal rights and sexual abuse through the life of Susie, a fourteen-year-old girl who is easily influenced by an unusual circle of friends. Susie's French teacher, Mr. Larmour, an animal rights extremist, is also a major influence in her life; while running the school Animal Rights group, he seduces students and takes sexual advantage of Susie. Writing in Magpies, Sally Harding called They're Only Human "a cracker of a book for making you think hard about human motives, hypocrisy, and behaviour." Though finding that "the sensationalist sexual abuse tends to overwhelm the thoughtful conflict," Booklist critic Frances Bradburn nonetheless claimed the author's "strong craftsmanship dramatizes both sides of the animal rights debate."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Reference Books Annual, Melissa Rae Root, review of Dictionary of Contemporary French Connectors, p. 390.

Booklist, May 1, 2003, Frances Bradburn, review of They're Only Human, p. 1589.

Economist, October 5, 2002, "Love by Osmosis; Proust in translation," review of A Search for Lost Time. Swann's Way.

French Review, February, 1999, Thomas T. Field, review of Dictionary of French Connectors, p. 610.

Magpies, September, 2001, Sally Harding, review of They're Only Human, p. 39.

Modern Language Journal, spring, 1999, Jean-Pierre Berwarld, review of Dictionary of Contemporary French Connectors, pp. 145-146.

Reference & Research Book News, August, 1997, review of Dictionary of Contemporary French Connectors, p. 142.