Baker, Barbara 1952-

views updated

BAKER, Barbara 1952-

PERSONAL: Born September 9, 1952, in London, England; daughter of Eric (a lawyer and accountant) and Shiela (an artist; maiden name, Myer) Conrad; married Robin Baker (a banker), October 8, 1994.Education: University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, honors degree. Hobbies and other interests: Photography, gardening, theater, cinema, antiques, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—8 Lower Mall, London W6 9DJ, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: River Wye Booksellers, owner of antiquarian bookshop, 1977-79; stage manager for various theaters and opera houses in England, 1979-83; Central Casting Ltd., London, England, casting agent, 1983-92; Waterstones Bookshop, London, bookseller, 1993-94; Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, editor, 1995-98; Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong, editor, 1998-2000; self-employed writer and publisher, London, 2000—.

MEMBER: British Society of Authors.

WRITINGS:

Shanghai: Electric and Lurid City, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Madeleine Slavick) Round: Poems and Photographs of Asia, Asia 2000 (Hong Kong), 1998.

Chinese Ink, Western Pen: Stories of China, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Let the Credits Roll: Interviews with Film Crew, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2003, new edition, Aston House Press, 2005.

Why We Garden: Stories of a British Obsession, Aston House Press, 2004.

Work represented in anthologies. Contributor of poetry to magazines, including Country Life and Critical Quarterly.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A book of interviews with writers of different genres about their methods.

SIDELIGHTS: Barbara Baker told CA: "I started writing poetry at school. Although printed in school journals, when I left, I was desperate to be published in a commercial magazine. I wrote to Craig Raine, whom I admired, enclosing some work and asking if he felt it was worthwhile continuing. He wrote a charming, encouraging reply and so I persevered, and when I got a poem published in Country Life in 1983 I was totally thrilled. But, strangely, I felt I had achieved my aim and did not have to write anymore!

"It was only several years later, when I took a course in creative writing at the City Lit in London, that my urge to write was rekindled and I got some more poems published in magazines. My themes were varied, but what I enjoyed was trying to express something familiar in a new way. When I moved to Hong Kong I started my own writing group, which was very helpful in honing my critical abilities. I was never prolific, but I got immense satisfaction whenever I felt I had achieved a well-crafted poem. I decided to write a book of poems and photos with a friend, The book won an award at the Bumbershoot Festival Book Fair in Seattle, and I gave readings, was on the Cable News Network, and was included in anthologies. As time went on, however, I became dissatisfied with my poetry.

"I had been working as an editor for Oxford University Press, and they commissioned me to compile an anthology about Shanghai. I enjoyed the research and writing the introductions to the passages I chose and went on to select and edit a second book. This time I decided the subject: western fiction set in China. Next, I got a job as editor with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and discovered that I liked interviewing artists for the Philharmonic's magazine. It was this that led to my current work. I now find prose in many respects easier than poetry and can write it daily. I can still combine it with photography, which I enjoy; meet interesting people; and choose subjects which intrigue and which are part of my life. Being somewhat disillusioned with publishers, I have now set up my own publishing company, Aston House Press.

"Writing books of interviews is becoming a personal genre. Because I had once worked casting film extras, I knew that there was a hoard of fascinating people working in the film industry, and I wrote a book of interviews with film crew. By then I had moved to London and had my own garden for the first time. I became completely obsessed with gardening and presumed there were other like-minded people—another subject for a book."