Iain Banks

Lucie Armitt (Lincoln University); Martyn Colebrook (University of Hull)
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Iain Menzies Banks is a Scottish writer, born in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1954. He was educated at the University of Stirling in the early 1970s, where he completed a degree in English Literature.

Despite being a writer of talent and originality, however, he remains comparatively neglected by the literary establishment, jostled out of position in literary directories of contemporary writers by rivals of significantly less talent or importance to the contemporary scene. There are no comprehensive monographs that attempt a comprehensive critical study of his oeuvre. Two main reasons may lie behind this comparative critical neglect: his central and sustained focus upon what one might loosely refer to as a form of “anti-realism” and the fact that he splits his writing persona into two

2250 words

Citation: Armitt, Lucie, Martyn Colebrook. "Iain Banks". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 June 2003; last revised 11 January 2006. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=243, accessed 19 March 2024.]

243 Iain Banks 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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