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Jo Mazelis

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Jo Mazelis(born 1956) is a Welsh writer. Her 2014 novelSignificancewas awarded theJerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize2015. Her short story collections have been short- or long-listed for prizes, includingWales Book of the Year.She has also worked as a professionalgraphic designer.

Biography

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Mazelis was born near Fairwood Common on theGower Peninsula.She grew up inSwansea,later living inAberystwythand thenLondonfor over 14 years before returning to her hometown. She worked as agraphic designerforSpare Rib,Undercurrents,Women’s Review,EverywomanandCity Limits.She did a Foundation Course atSwansea College of Art,and was awarded a Higher Datec Diploma fromEaling College of Higher Education,a degree in Art & English fromSwansea Metropolitan Universityand an MA in English Literature fromSwansea University.[citation needed]

Mazelis was aRoyal Literary Fundfellow at Swansea University 2009-11[1]and is currently alectoron the Royal Literary Fund Reading Round in Swansea.[citation needed]

Writing

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Mazelis's first collection of short stories,Diving Girls(2002), was shortlisted for bothWales Book of the Yearand Commonwealth Best First Book.[2]

Her second collection of stories,Circle Games(2005), was long-listed for Wales Book of the Year.[2]

In 2014, Mazelis wrote a collection of surreal dystopian fiction forGo! Be a Bird!,a collaborative work with award-winning artist Susan Adams.[3]She also published the novelSignificance(2014), which was awarded the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize.[4]

Mazelis's third collection,Ritual, 1969(2016), was long-listed for theEdge Hill Short Story Prize[5]and shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year in 2017.[6]

Several of Mazelis's stories have also been broadcast onBBC Radio 4includingToo Perfect,Snakeskin Becomes HerandThe Blackberry Season.[2]

Mazelis's work has appeared inThe Lonely Crowd,New Welsh Review,Spare Rib,Poetry Wales,Raconteur,Cambrensis,Nth Position,The Big Issue,Corridor,TheOttawa Citizen,Everywoman,Tears in the FenceandLampeter Reviewamongst others.[citation needed]

Reviews

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ReviewingCircle Games,Anna Scott in theNew Welsh Reviewwrote, "Mazelis plays with the reader, introducing the unexpected by the back door. Fearlessly scrutinising the desires and impulses of her characters, segueing nightmarish fantasies into reality."[7]

ReviewingRitual, 1969,Rupert Dastur inThe Short Storywrote, "Mazelis explores a dazzling range of ideas, geographies and times, often couched in the daily realities of women and children, the marginalised and the powerless, the scared, hopeless, and hapless...Ritual, 1969reveals the absolute mastery Mazelis has over the short form and this third collection is a superb display of a writer keenly attentive to the human mind, its motives and its mysteries. "[8]

Photography

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While working for magazines in London in the 1980s Mazelis photographed writers such asP.D. James,[9]Patricia Highsmith.[10]andKathy Acker,[11][12]artistsPaula RegoandNan Goldin,[13]and actorsMiranda Richardson[14]andTilda Swinton,[15]amongst others.[16]Mazelis photographedJohn StevensandDudu Pukwanaon a number of occasions, notably while they were recording the album,Radebe: They Shoot to Kill.[17][unreliable source]Since returning to Wales she has photographed a number of Welsh artists and writers including Ed Thomas, Francesca Rhydderch, Lloyd Robson, Kevin Sinnott,David Hurn,Rachel Trezise,Richard Davies, Tristan Hughes, Rhian Elizabeth and musicians Richard Cowell (Rag Foundation) and Paul Battenbough.[citation needed]

Mazelis has exhibited her artwork at Camerawork, London and theGlynn Vivian Art Gallery,and had solo exhibitions at The Camera Club, London and The Dylan Thomas Centre, and a joint show at thePontardawe Arts Centre.Her photography has been used for a variety of publications from online journals to print magazine covers and book jackets.[citation needed]

Film

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In the 1980s Mazelis collaborated as a screenwriter for a student film in which she also acted. She also acted in aSuper 8filmThe Fate of Cainmade by Barry Assinder which was shown at theLondon Film Festival.

Selected publications

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  • Diving Girls(short stories, Parthian, 2002; published in Danish translation asForbuden Frugtby Arvids, 2007)
  • Circle Games(short stories, Parthian, 2005)
  • Significance(novel, Seren, 2014)
  • Ritual, 1969(short stories, Seren, 2016)
  • Skin and other short stories(short stories, CPI Group, 2022)
  • Blister and Other Stories(as JK Mazelis) (short stories, Redrobe Books, 2022)

Awards and honors

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Mazelis has won a prize in theRhys DaviesShort Story Award five times,[citation needed]was longlisted for the Asham Award[citation needed]and received prizes in the PenFRO[18]andAllen Rainecompetitions.[19]

Mazelis was shortlisted for the 2023 in the short fiction category for her book

Year Title Award Result Ref.
2002 Diving Girls Wales Book of the Year Shortlist [20]
Commonwealth Best First Book Shortlist
2005 Circle Games Wales Book of the Year Longlist [20]
2015 Significance Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize Winner [21]
2016 Ritual, 1969 Edge Hill Short Story Prize Longlist [5]
2017 Wales Book of the Year Shortlist [6]
2023 Blister and Other Stories International Rubery Book Award Shortlist [22]

References

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  1. ^"Jo Mazelis".Royal Literary Fund.Archived fromthe originalon 21 October 2017.Retrieved23 April2024.
  2. ^abcLavin, John (12 April 2015)."In Conversation with Jo Mazelis".Wales Arts Review.Retrieved24 April2024.
  3. ^"Go! Be a Bird!".Susan Adams.Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2017.Retrieved23 April2024.
  4. ^"Jerwood Fiction prize 2015 shortlist".Fiction Uncovered.Archived fromthe originalon 29 November 2017.Retrieved20 October2017.
  5. ^ab"Short Story Prize organisers announce diverse longlist for 2017 competition".Edge Hill University.Archived fromthe originalon 21 October 2017.Retrieved20 October2017.
  6. ^ab"Announcing the Wales Book of the Year Short List 2017".Literature Wales.20 October 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2017.Retrieved20 October2017.
  7. ^"Circle Games by Jo Mazelis".New Welsh Review.72.Summer 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2017.
  8. ^"The Short Story Review: 'Ritual, 1969' by Jo Mazelis".TSS Publishing.27 July 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2021.Retrieved24 April2024.
  9. ^Mazelis, Jo (27 November 2014)."P.D. James 3rd August 1920 – 27th November 2014".jomazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  10. ^Mazelis, Jo (22 November 2015)."Portrait 4".jomazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  11. ^Mazelis, Jo (19 September 2016)."Kathy Acker,laughing".jomazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  12. ^Kathy Acker's guts(Podcast).Archivedfrom the original on 22 March 2023.Retrieved24 April2024– via Acast.
  13. ^Mazelis, Jo (28 February 2017)."Nan Goldin on the steps near the ICA".jomazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  14. ^Mazelis, Jo (26 November 2015)."Portrait 6".jomazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  15. ^Mazelis, Jo (19 May 2016)."Tilda Swinton".jomazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  16. ^"Jo Mazelis - International Literature Showcase".Jo Mazelis.Archivedfrom the original on 9 June 2023.Retrieved24 April2024.
  17. ^[1]Archived20 May 2023 at theWayback Machineretrieved 2023-05-20
  18. ^"The 2014 Winners".Penfro Book Festival.Archived fromthe originalon 21 October 2017.
  19. ^"Allen Raine Short Story".Allen Raine Short Story.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2017.Retrieved24 April2024.
  20. ^abLavin, John (12 April 2015)."In Conversation with Jo Mazelis".Wales Arts Review.Retrieved24 April2024.
  21. ^"Awards: Jerwood Fiction Uncovered".Shelf Awareness.19 June 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 27 October 2023.Retrieved24 April2024.
  22. ^"2023 Winners".Rubery Book Awards | Book Contest.Archivedfrom the original on 28 October 2023.Retrieved24 April2024.
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