# Clare Wigfall

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**Clare Wigfall** (born 1976 in [Greenwich](/source/Greenwich), London) is a British writer. Her debut collection of short stories, *The Loudest Sound and Nothing*, was published in 2007 and longlisted for the [Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award](/source/Frank_O'Connor_International_Short_Story_Award). She won the [BBC National Short Story Award](/source/BBC_National_Short_Story_Award) in 2008.

## Biography

Wigfall was born in London in 1976.[1] Her father was an architect, who was posted to [Berkeley, California](/source/Berkeley,_California) when Wigfall was two and a half. The family lived there for five years before moving back to London.[2] She was educated at [James Allen's Girls' School](/source/James_Allen's_Girls'_School).[citation needed] She completed a foundation year at [Camberwell College of Arts](/source/Camberwell_College_of_Arts).[2] She graduated from the [University of Manchester](/source/Victoria_University_of_Manchester) in 1998 with a degree in English and American Literature.[3] She then completed an MA in creative writing at the [University of East Anglia](/source/University_of_East_Anglia), where she was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.[4]

She has lived in Prague and Edinburgh and currently lives in Berlin with her husband and three children.[4][5] Her early jobs include working as assistant and editor to the then-president of [Mensa](/source/Mensa_International)[5] and working in an art gallery.[2]

She has taught creative writing for two decades for establishments including the [Arvon Foundation](/source/Arvon_Foundation) and [Akademie Schloss Solitude](/source/Akademie_Schloss_Solitude) and is currently a lecturer at [Bard College Berlin](/source/Bard_College_Berlin).[3][4] She was shortlisted for the 2023 European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities.[4] She was awarded a fellowship at the Kyoto Writers Residency in 2024.[6]

## Writing career

While Wigfall was studying at East Anglia, [Faber & Faber](/source/Faber_%26_Faber) offered her a book contract based on reading three unpublished stories.[2] Almost a decade later in 2008, her debut collection, *The Loudest Sound and Nothing*, was published by Faber.[7][8] The collection was longlisted for the 2008 [Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award](/source/Frank_O'Connor_International_Short_Story_Award).[9]

Wigfall has said that music was a large influence on this debut collection. She cites the [Dirty Three](/source/Dirty_Three), [John Fahey](/source/John_Fahey_(musician)), [Jolie Holland](/source/Jolie_Holland), [Bonnie "Prince" Billy](/source/Bonnie_%22Prince%22_Billy), [Jefferson Airplane](/source/Jefferson_Airplane), [Cat Power](/source/Cat_Power), [Bach](/source/Bach), [Rachel's](/source/Rachel's) and [Six Organs of Admittance](/source/Six_Organs_of_Admittance) as influencing individual stories.[10]

In 2008, Wigfall won the [BBC National Short Story Award](/source/BBC_National_Short_Story_Award) for "The Numbers", one of the stories from her collection.[11][12] The story is set in the Outer Hebrides and follows a woman who recites numbers to avoid bad luck. The story was inspired by American anthropologist [Margaret Fay Shaw](/source/Margaret_Fay_Shaw), who studied the folklore and traditions of the Outer Hebrides.[11]

In 2010, Wigfall received a K. Blundell Trust grant, awarded to writers under 40 for raising social consciousness through writing.[1]

In 2011, Wigfall was longlisted for the [Sunday Times Short Story Award](/source/Sunday_Times_Short_Story_Award) for her story "Professor Arvind".[13]

Her stories have also been published in *[Prospect](/source/Prospect_(magazine))*, *[New Writing](/source/New_Writing)*, *[Tatler](/source/Tatler)*, and *[The Dublin Review](/source/The_Dublin_Review)* and commissioned for [BBC Radio 4](/source/BBC_Radio_4).[5][14][15][16]

In 2011, she published a picture book, *Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?*, and was [BookTrust's](/source/BookTrust) fifth online [Writer in Residence](/source/Artist-in-residence).[17]

## Works

### Short story collection

- *The Loudest Sound and Nothing*, Faber & Faber, 2007, ISBN 978-0571196302

### For children

- *Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?*, with Ollie Lett, Walker Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1406313895

### As contributor

- *The BBC National Short Story Award 2008*, Short Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1906021603
- *Sex and Death: Stories*, edited Sarah Hall and Peter Hobbs, Faber & Faber, 2016, ISBN 978-0571322428

## References

1. ["Clare Wigfall"](https://www.akademie-solitude.de/en/person/clare-wigfall/). *Akademie Schloss Solitude*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["Postcards from the Edge"](https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/21800329.postcards-edge/). *East Anglian Daily Times*. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["Clare Wigfall"](https://berlin.bard.edu/people/profiles/clare-wigfall). *Bard College Berlin*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["Clare Wigfall"](https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/clare-wigfall-1). *Curtis Brown*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["BBC National Short Story Award"](https://www.theshortstory.org.uk/nssp/2008.php4). *The Short Story*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["Clare Wigfall Embraces the Unfamiliar as a Fellow in the Kyoto Writers Residency"](https://berlin.bard.edu/news/clare-wigfall-embraces-the-unfamiliar-as-a-fellow-in-the-kyoto-writers-residency-2024-11-05). *Bard College Berlin*. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. Barr, Nicola (6 September 2008). ["The Loudest Sound and Nothing"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/sep/06/fiction.roundupreviews). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. Koning, Christina (19 September 2008). ["Paperback The Loudest Sound and Nothing by Clare Wigfall"](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/scotland-travel/paperback-the-loudest-sound-and-nothing-by-clare-wigfall-czvgndfwc5f). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["Eric Forbes's book addict's guide to good books: ON THE COUCH WITH ... Clare WIGFALL"](https://goodbooksguide.blogspot.com/2008/05/on-couch-clare-wigfall.html). *Goodbooksguide.blogspot.com*. 2008-05-18. Retrieved 2017-01-06.

1. ["MySpace.com – the loudest sound and nothing – 32 – Female – Berlin, DE – www.myspace.com/clarewigfall"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090326032509/http://www.myspace.com/clarewigfall). Archived from [the original](http://www.myspace.com/clarewigfall) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-06-03.

1. ["Britain's best short story"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7495000/7495638.stm). *BBC*. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2017-01-06.

1. Irvine, Lindesay (16 July 2008). ["Numbers add up to win BBC National Short Story award"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jul/16/news.culture). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. Neill, Graeme (21 Feb 2011). ["Mantel on Sunday Times short story longlist"](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/mantel-sunday-times-short-story-longlist). *The Bookseller*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. Wigfall, Clare (20 January 1998). ["Her and the Baby"](https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/books-and-literature/fiction/55466/her-and-the-baby). *Prospect*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. Wigfall, Clare (Summer 2005). ["Two Stories"](https://thedublinreview.com/product/summer-2005/). *Dublin Review*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. Wigfall, Clare (24 March 2020). ["Spinkej"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07yc9x2). *BBC*. Retrieved 26 April 2025.

1. ["Writer in Residence Clare Wigfall"](https://booktrust-dev.cds.co.uk/news-and-features/writer-in-residence/previous-writers-in-residence/clare-wigfall/#!?q=&sortOption=MostRecent&pageNo=1). Retrieved 28 April 2025.

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