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Andrea Levy
Writer

Andrea Levy

Famoose for

Exploring Britain and Jamaica in Small Island and The Long Song.

Small Island · The Long Song

Born
7 March 1956
Birthplace
London
Died
14 February 2019

More people

Jane AustenWriting Pride and Prejudice and Emma.Charles DickensWriting Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.Toni MorrisonWriting Beloved and winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Andrea Levy

Andrea Levy was an English novelist whose fiction examined migration, racial identity and the connected histories of Britain and the Caribbean.

Early life

London upbringing

Grew up in Highbury with Jamaican parents and studied textile design at Middlesex Polytechnic.

Career

  1. Early work

    Costume and design

    Worked in theatre and television costume departments.

  2. 1989

    Creative writing

    Joined Alison Fell’s City Lit course.

  3. 1994

    Debut novel

    Published Every Light in the House Burnin’.

Selected work

Small Island

Explored Jamaican migration and postwar Britain.

The Long Song

Returned to Jamaica’s history of slavery.

Beyond work

Family history

Her father arrived in Britain aboard the Empire Windrush in 1948.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Geraint Lewis, via Andrea Levy’s official website. Source credit retained; reuse licence not established · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.