Biography of Ian McEwan (1948-----)
Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan was born in Aldershot, England on June 21, 1948. His father was a Scotsman, and was a sergeant major in the British Army. As a result, Ian spent some of his childhood living abroad in places like Singapore and Libya while his father was on military campaigns during the Cold War.
McEwan's mother was perviously married and had two children from that marriage. One, her oldest son Ernest Wort, was killed in action during the D-Day invasions of France in 1944. Ian's mother and father also had a child out of wedlock, David Sharp, who was given up for adoption in 1942 because of the affair between his parents before Ian's mother was divorced. McEwan has also referred to instances of alcohol and spousal abuse initiated by his father. In one interview, the author remember attempting to intervene in such abuse, but was prevented from doing so by his mother who insisted it was not his place to get involved. For all intents and purposes, Ian McEwan was an only child. An interesting anecdote to his family life is that McEwan's mother suffered from vascular dementia--the same disease diagnosed to heroine Briony Tallis in "Atonement."
McEwan was separated from his parents when he was 12 years old (1959) and they were living in Libya. At that time, Ian was sent back to England to attend Woolverstone Hall Boarding School back in England. He was there until 1966.
From 1966-70, McEwan attended the University of Sussex. It was here where he first realized and voiced an interest to become a writer. While studying at Sussex, McEwan wrote for performance mainly, completing scripts for the stage, radio play, and television sketches. It wasn't until 1970, when McEwan was earning an MA from the University of Anglia, that he shifted to prose. At Anglia, McEwan was introduced to a group of young American writers--Norman Mailer, John Updike, Henry Mellow, and Saul Bellow--who would go on to have a great effect on him and his writing.
Following graduation from Anglia, McEwan left Europe to spend a year in Afghanistan. Upon his return he married what he referred to as a complete "free spirit," the young and liberated Penny Allen. McEwan and Allen had two sons together, but their marriage was short lived. As McEwan's fame began to grow in Britain's literary world, Allen became frustrated and the two were divorced shortly thereafter. Their break-up became somewhat of a media circus when Allen fled the country with her new husband, Ismay Tremain, for France, taking the boys with her. Eventually, she was fined and ordered to return to Britain.
Following the episode with Allen, McEwan married long time Guardian editor Annalena McAfee. Together, the two have continued to raise McEwan's sons with comforting success.
Today, Ian McEwan continues his incredible pace of churning out literature. McEwan is an avid activist in the fight for climate control and a regular contributor to The Guardian Review. As well, McEwan is an outspoken Atheist. The respected writer openly fights against all religions, specifically Islam, who he has been quoted numerous times as saying he has no patience for. The attacks on New York City and Washington on September 11, 2001 had a lasting and profound effect on McEwan. He has written many fiction and opinion based essays on the war against terrorism and the misrepresented philosophies of religion.
Finally, McEwan also speaks openly about his views of the role of the artist in today's society: Writer and McEwan biographer Ian Wells has this to say about Ian McEwan:
"He, as an artist, can play a role in creating a more morally attuned society: through his activism as a public intellectual, devoting his time to causes such as gender equality, nuclear disarmament, and environmentalism; and through his fiction, which he views as a medium for enhancing people's compassionate abilities to imagine the lives of others" (30).
