Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah is a British poet, novelist, children's writer, and translator, born in Manchester on 28 June 1971.
Hannah was educated at the University of Manchester. Writing in English, she has worked across several distinct literary forms, producing poetry, fiction for adult readers, fiction for younger audiences, and translated works. This breadth across genres marks her career as notably varied in its outputs, with each strand grounded in the same English-language practice that runs throughout her work.
Among the honours she has received are the Eric Gregory Award and a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature. These two distinctions reflect her activity across multiple forms of writing, acknowledging her contributions to both poetry and the wider field of literature. The Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature and the Eric Gregory Award together represent formal recognition from established literary institutions, locating Hannah within a tradition of United Kingdom writers who engage with poetry, prose fiction, children's literature, and translation as complementary rather than competing pursuits. Her range across these forms, combined with the recognition she has received, makes the multiplicity of genres she works within a defining characteristic of her practice as a writer.
Quotes by Sophie Hannah
I always notice the dysfunctional dynamic of human relationships because most places where you encounter it, people are trying to pretend it isn't happening.
I never write about CIA conspiracies or the FBI or mafia or anything like that because I just don't understand that world. But I think I do understand individual human harmfulness.
In my opinion, a superior mind counts for nothing unless accompanied by a superior heart.
Tell them I’ve two spare rooms here. It might not be as grand as the Bloxham, but everybody’s still alive when they wake up in the morning.
If there’s an aspect of your life that’s making you unhappy and you can escape from it, why wait? Too many people stick around and try to improve things, which often means slogging your guts out to compensate for the deficiencies of others. Personally, I’m a fan of the discard: leave it; move on.
One ought not to use words carelessly, or even spontaneously. Once they are launched, they cannot be called back.
I will be angry until my dying day, Mr Catchpool. Greater sinners persecuting lesser sinners in the name of morality – that’s something worth raging about.
What they’d got was a fat, balding academic who bandied about the phrase “family annihilation”, especially when there were cameras pointed at him, and mentioned the titles of books and articles he’d written to anyone who would listen; who blatantly thought he was the mutt’s nuts, as Sellers had so aptly put it.
Anyone who cares more about pleasing other people than about their own happiness – anyone who believes, deep down, that everyone else matters more than they do – learns fluent dishonesty at a young age.