The 850-page novel The Crimson Petal and the White, released in 2002, established a literary reputation for Michel Faber through its detailed examination of 1870s London. Although born in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1960, he later settled in Scotland, building a diverse career that spans novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction journalism in the English language.
Early Life and Education
Faber relocated to Australia with his parents in 1967. During his youth in the Melbourne suburbs of Boronia and Bayswater, he pursued his education at the University of Melbourne. There, he studied a curriculum encompassing Dutch, Philosophy, Rhetoric, English language, and literature, completing his degree in 1980. Prior to focusing on professional writing, he worked as a cleaner and underwent training as a nurse at the Western Suburbs and Marrickville hospitals in Sydney, working in that field until the mid-1990s.
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While Faber began writing manuscripts at age fourteen, his early work remained largely unpublished during the 1980s. He gained momentum in the 1990s by participating in and winning various short story competitions, including the 1996 Ian St James Award and the 1996 Macallan Prize. These successes facilitated a partnership with Canongate Books, the Edinburgh-based publisher that released his debut short story collection, Some Rain Must Fall, in 1998.
Prose Fiction and Genre Evolution
Faber’s novels often blend genre elements, such as the science fiction and thriller themes found in his debut novel, Under the Skin (2000). His body of work includes The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps, The Courage Consort, and The Fire Gospel, the latter being a contribution to the Canongate Myth Series. After releasing The Book of Strange New Things in 2014, he announced his retirement from adult novel writing, though he subsequently published the children's book D: A Tale of Two Worlds in 2020.
Journalism and Non-Fiction
Beyond his fiction, Faber has contributed to various journalistic projects. Between 2001 and 2004, he provided book reviews for Scotland on Sunday. He also authored the column Image Conscious for The Sunday Herald in 2004. His investigative work included traveling to Ukraine in 2004 with Médecins Sans Frontières to document the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In October 2023, he released Listen: On Music, Sound and Us, a non-fiction study of human community and sound.
Fast facts
- Born: 1960, The Hague
- Citizenship: Australia, Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Education: University of Melbourne (graduated 1980)
- Debut book: Some Rain Must Fall (1998)
- Notable work: The Crimson Petal and the White (2002)
- Poetry collection: Undying (2016)
- Notable awards: Saltire Awards (2015), Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (1974)
Questions readers ask
Did Michel Faber write a sequel to The Crimson Petal and the White?
No. While he published a collection of related stories titled The Apple in 2006, he never wrote a direct sequel to the novel.
What is the subject of his 2023 book, Listen?
It is a non-fiction work that explores music, sound, tribalism, and human community.
Achievements
- Notable work: The Crimson Petal and the White
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