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Iain Sinclair
(1943-)

Active: 1970- in England, Britain, Europe

By David Cunningham (University of Westminster)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: England, Britain, Europe
  • Born In: Wales, Britain, Europe
  • Activity: Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Film Director, Book Seller

Life, Works and Times

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Among contemporary British writers, no one has made the city the central subject of their work to quite such an extent as Iain Sinclair. Born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1943, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Sinclair's essential territory has been, since he settled there in the late 1960s, the landscape, history and people of East London. Having trained at the London School of Film Technique, he first attempted to find employment as a film-maker, working with Tom Baker and Michael Reeves, and also taught for a while at the Technical College and School of Art in Walthamstow, East London, where he met the artist and poet Brian Catling who was to become probably his closest friend and associate in the years that followed. It was while wo

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First published 08 March 2001 ; revised 07 November 2002

Citation: Cunningham, David. "Iain Sinclair". The Literary Encyclopedia. 8 March 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4084, accessed 9 February 2010.]