Deborah Levy was born August 6, 1959 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrants. She is a British poet, playwright, and novelist.
Her family emigrated to London in the year 1968, first living in Wembley before she moved to Petts Wood. Her parents divorced in the year 1974.
Deborah was educated at St Olave’s and St Saviour’s School, Southwark, and later at Hampstead School. She then attended Dartington College of Arts, which she was inspired to go to by Derek Jarman, whom she met during her time working at Notting Hill’s Gate Cinema as an usher.
After she left Dartington in the year 1981, Deborah wrote many plays. She was also writer and director for Man Act Theatre Company.
Originally, she wrote for theater only, with her plays being staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, before she focused on writing prose fiction.
Deborah wrote and published her first novel, called “Beautiful Mutants”, at the age of 27. The experience of not needing to give her words to some director, the actors, and designer to interpret, was exhilarating and it made her want to write a few more.
Books in order of publication:
Standalone Novels
| The Unloved | (1994) | |
| Billy and Girl | (1996) | |
| Swimming Home | (2011) | |
| Hot Milk | (2016) | |
| The Man Who Saw Everything | (2019) | |
| Real Estate | (2021) |
Collections
| Ophelia and the Great Idea | (1988) | |
| An Amorous Discourse In the Suburbs of Hell | (1990) | |
| Pillow Talk in Europe and Other Places | (2003) | |
| Black Vodka | (2012) |
Plays
| Heresies | (1987) |
Graphic Novels
| Stardust Nation | (2016) |
Short Stories/Novellas
| Beautiful Mutants | (1989) | |
| Swallowing Geography | (1993) |
Non-Fiction Books
| Diary of a Steak | (1997) | |
| Things I Dont Want to Know | (2013) | |
| The Cost of Living | (2018) |
Oak Lawn Library Friends 