McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. He won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976 for his first collection of short stories First Love, Last Rites; the Whitbread Novel Award (1987) and the Prix Fémina Etranger (1993) for The Child in Time; and Germany's Shakespeare Prize in 1999. He has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction numerous times, winning the award for Amsterdam in 1998. His novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). He was awarded a CBE in 2000. In 2006, he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Saturday and his novel On Chesil Beach was named Galaxy Book of the Year at the 2008 British Book Awards where McEwan was also named Reader's Digest Author of the Year.

McEwan lives in London and is currently writing a new novel. His most recently published work is For You, a libretto.

Continuum is generously giving away free copies of Ian McEwan: Contemporary Critical Perspectives to undergraduate students. If you wish to enter the competition, please answer the following three questions:

1. What was the illustrious nickname Ian McEwan acquired in the 1970s?

2. In which unnamed city is The Comfort of Strangers set?

3. From which Jane Austen novel does Atonement take its epigraph?

The first ten students who email the correct answers will be sent a copy of the guide.

Please send an email with your answers to:
ccoalter@continuumbooks.com and include your name, the name of your university and your preferred postal address.

The competition ends when the tenth book has been given away. Good luck!

Daniel Zalewski, “The Background Hum.” The New Yorker, 23 February 2009: 46 -52, 54-61. (Registration required for full access).

Ian McEwan is the subject of an extensive New Yorker profile that provides several new insights into his life and works. In addition to meeting with McEwan several times, Zalewski interviewed friends and family members, including Martin Amis, Craig Raine, and James Fenton. The article provides an intimate view into the life of a novelist at the height of his abilities.

The online edition provides limited access, so head out to your local newstand for the full version. The New Yorker does, however, provide access to a few archived pieces, including "The Diagnosis" and "On Chesil Beach".

'On John Updike.' New York Review of Books 56.4 (12 March 2009).

"Beyond the Bounds of Realism" The Guardian (31 January 2009): 2.

From the Guardian article: "The Updike opus is so vast, so varied and rich, that we will not have its full measure for years to come. We have lived with the expectation of his new novel or story or essay so long, all our lives, that it does not seem possible that this flow of invention should suddenly cease. We are truly bereft, that this reticent, kindly man with the ferocious work ethic and superhuman facility will write for us no more."

McEwan also pays tribute to Updike on the BBC (Watch Video) and in a small contribution for The Guardian on 28 January 2009:

"He was a modern master, a colossal figure in American letters, the finest writer working in English. He dazzled us with his interests and intellectual curiosity, and he turned a beautiful sentence. Religion, sex, science, urban decay, small-town life, the life of the heart, the betrayals – who can follow him? Updike gave the impression he had a lot more writing to do. We are all the poorer now." -- Ian McEwan

The nonprofit Edge Foundation in New York has asked leading thinkers to start the New Year 2009 by predicting what will be the next big thing to shape the future. Ian McEwan responds:

THE FULL FLOURISHING OF SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

"Philip Larkin began a poem with the hypothesis, 'If I were called in/ To construct a religion/ I should make use of water'. Instead of water, I would propose the sun, and the religion I have in mind is a rational affair, with enormous aesthetic possibilities and of great utility."

Read the rest of McEwan's response at: www.edge.org

Charles Frieth, preeminent composer, conductor and prodigious womaniser, is preparing for a performance of one of his early works, and the world premiere of "Demonic Aubade". Obstinate and myopic, he is oblivious to the growing turmoil around him; his wife's poor health and dissatisfaction; the exhausted efforts of his secretary; and, the disquieting diligence of his housekeeper, Maria.

As the first performance draws near, the maestro is suddenly awoken to the chaos, and as Charles struggles to regain control of his life, a terrible tragedy begins to unfold. "For You" is a beautifully wrought and compelling libretto - It is Ian McEwan at his very best.

Order a copy online via Vintage, Amazon.co.uk, or from a variety of quality Independent Booksellers.

Atonement
Purchase Atonement online via Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, or from a variety of quality Independent Booksellers.		Purchase York Notes on "Atonement" online from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, BN.com, or a wide selection of high-quality Independent Booksellers.