CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Derek Beaven

British writer

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ5261796
Source-derived summary

Derek Beaven (born 1947) is a British novelist. His first novel, Newton's Niece, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book, Europe and South Asia. His second book, Acts of Mutiny was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Encore Award.

Beaven was born in South London. He studied at Ashlyns School, Hertfordshire. He read English at Oxford University.

He lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.

Works

Newton′s Niece, Faber and Faber, 1994, ISBN 978-0-571-17136-1

Acts of Mutiny, Fourth Estate, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85702-641-2

If the Invader Comes, Fourth Estate, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84115-591-3

His Coldest Winter, Fourth Estate, 2005; HarperCollins, 2006, ISBN 978-0-00-715110-3

The Icon Painter, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014, ISBN 1-508-57558-4

Pharmakon, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, ISBN 1-508-84338-4

Remake, Derek Beaven, 2024, ISBN 1-068-78191-2

Reviews

Julie Myerson (8 September 2001). "Emotional invasions". The Guardian.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Derek Beaven” as british writer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Derek, Beaven and British.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1947, 1994, 1998, 2001—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1947-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Derek, Beaven and British providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Derek Beaven”, the useful work is to connect “british writer” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5261796. VIAF identifies the subject as 43876903. The Library of Congress control number is no94029632. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1947, 1994, 1998 and 2001.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Derek Beaven”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Derek Beaven primary sources, Derek Beaven archive and Derek research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Derek Beaven”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Derek Beaven” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.