Angela Thirlwell likes to push the boundaries of biography. She used a thematic ‘spots of time’ approach in William and Lucy, and interpreted Ford Madox Brown through the lenses of the 4 women in his life in Into the Frame. This time she’s chosen Shakespeare’s inspirational heroine, Rosalind, a character who has never lived and therefore can never die. No need for the biographer’s usual death bed scene. Thirlwell read English at St. Anne’s College, Oxford and lectured in English and Theatre Studies for many years for the Faculty of Continuing Education, Birkbeck College, University of London. Yale University Press published her first biography, William and Lucy: The Other Rossettis in 2003. Into the Frame: the four loves of Ford Madox Brown was published by Chatto & Windus in 2010, and in paperback by Pimlico in 2011. She wrote ‘The Game of Life’ for the Catalogue to the Ford Madox Brown Exhibition, shown in Manchester and Ghent in 2011/12. Angela has given a wide range of talks on Ford Madox Brown, Ford Madox Ford, on art and on Biography at literary festivals, conferences, museums and galleries in England, France, Italy and the U.S.A. These include the Wallace Collection, the Walker Gallery in Liverpool, Manchester Art Gallery, the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, the Oxford Literary Festival, the University Women’s Club, King’s College London, Words by the Water in Keswick, Burgh House and Kenwood House in Hampstead, Hofstra University USA, and King’s Place in London for a Guardian Masterclass on biography. She’s been the external examiner for the highly regarded M.A. in Biography at the University of Buckingham. The course uses The Folio Anthology of Autobiography Thirlwell edited in 1994, ranging from ancient Egyptian tomb inscriptions to the modern day. Angela appeared in a Culture Show Special on BBC2 about Ford Madox Ford, grandson of Ford Madox Brown, and author of Parade’s End. For further details: www.angelathirlwell.co.uk
