The Paradox of Sarah Kane

There are some who believe that world lost one of its finest late 20th century dramatists when Sarah Kane committed suicide in 1999. Her work produced extreme reactions in critics and audiences alike but many failed to appreciate pure poetry of her writing until it was too late. She was born in Essex, England, on 3rd February 1971. Her parents were both journalists and devout evangelists - religion played an important part in their everyday lives. Her father became area manager of Daily Mirror for East Anglia, while her mother gave up work to care for Sarah and her brother. By all accounts, Kane was an intelligent child who enjoyed learning, supported Manchester United F.C. and openly discussed God. However, in later years, when she had lost her faith, she described her juvenile beliefs as ‘the full spirit-filled, born-again lunacy’. As a teenager, she became involved with local drama groups and directed Chekhov and Shakespeare while still in school - playing truant at one point to be an assistant director in a production at Soho Polytechnic. After taking her A-levels, she went on to Bristol University to take a degree in drama, with all intentions of becoming an actress. She seemed at home in theatre and was immensely popular with fellow students, enjoying their company to full and indulging in a typically wild social life. She went clubbing, enjoyed affairs with women and became a great admirer of Howard Barker's Jacobean dramas (once acting in his play, “Victory”) - empathising with his dark views on life and love. Sarah stood out as a talented actress and director, but somewhere down line, she began to loose heart with her anticipated vocation and started writing instead. The first substantial work she produced was “Sick”, a series of three monologues that were performed to a pub crowd in Edinburgh. The pieces concerned rape, eating disorders and sexual identity, and her first person delivery was said to be "raw" and "unsettling". She graduated with a first from Bristol and went straight to Birmingham University to join David Edgar's MA playwriting course, which she disliked but completed for sake of her mother. Secretly she started writing “Blasted”, a complex play about violence from perspective of both victim and perpetrator. When it was first performed at students' end-of-year show it was watched by Mel Kenyon, who was completely "awe-struck" and later found it difficult to get play out of her mind. She wrote to Kane and they subsequently met up in London, where Kane agreed to Kenyon becoming her agent.

Why Publishers Buy Books: 28 Reasons

Editors will buy a book for one or more of following reasons:

1. The author's previous books have sold well 2. They love a book and think it will sell 3. They think a book will sell 4. They love it enough to publish, regardless of its commercial potential 5. It's a book that deserves to be published because of its value to a cause or country 6. An editor is passionate enough about it to overcome any doubts house may have about book 7. A new editor has arrived from another house and its building a list 8. The publisher has opportunity to reflag a successful author from another house 9. The book will be first in a series with strong growth potential 10. The idea for book is brilliant 11. The idea for book is timely 12. The writing is superb 13. The title alone will sell books 14. An author's promotion plan guarantees a book's success 15. The author is a media magnet who can guarantee enough publicity to make a book successful 16. The author has a national platform such as a column or a radio or television show that will guarantee continuing exposure for book 17. The publisher thinks that a book will backlist and become an evergreen (like evergreen tree -- sells for long long time) 18. The book has subsidiary rights potential including book