Drake, Nick 1961-

PERSONAL:

Born 1961. Education: Attended Cambridge University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England.

CAREER:

Intermedia Films, London, England, head of development; consultant to Atelier du Cinema European, the New Zealand Film Commission, (and board member) The Script Factory, London.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Waterstone/Forward Prize for best first collection, for The Man in the White Suit.

WRITINGS:

New Connections: New Plays for Young People, Faber & Faber (London, England), 1997.

The Man in the White Suit (poems), Bloodaxe Books (Newcastle upon Tyne, England), 1999.

Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead (novel), Bantam (London, England), 2006, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), 2007.

From the Word Go (poems), Bloodaxe Books (Newcastle upon Tyne, England), 2007.

Author of stage plays, including To Reach the Clouds, produced in Nottingham, England, 2006, and Mr. Sweettalk, produced in Salisbury and Bristol, England; author of screenplays, including Romulus, My Father, an adaptation of Romulus, a memoir by Raimond Gaita.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nick Drake is an author, playwright, and poet who has, as a director of creative development for Intermedia Films, overseen the production of many successful films, including Hilary and Jackie, Enigma, and Iris.

Drake's debut novel, Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, is the first volume of a projected trilogy of historical novels set during the period of eighteenth-dynasty Egypt. Nefertiti and her husband Akhenaten rule the affluent and sophisticated society, but change has occurred too quickly. The people who continue to honor their old gods are told to worship a single god, Aten, the sun god. Influential visitors come to the city, which is named Akhetaten, and as Akhenaten prepares for a festival to showcase his utopia, Nefertiti disappears, just as she did in real life. Detective Rai Rahotep of the Thebes Medjay charged with guarding royalty is told to find her within ten days, and if he does not, he and his wife and children will be beheaded.

BookLoons reviewer Mary Ann Smyth wrote: "The backdrop of this historical novel is astounding. Aspects of everyday life of the average Egyptian—as well as how royalty would spend their days—are laid out in fascinating detail." Armchair Interviews contributor Jeff Foster felt that "this story is like treasure from a previously unopened tomb." A Kirkus Reviews critic commented that Drake "begins a proposed Rahotep trilogy with clean, elegant prose and a pervasive aura of suspense."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2007, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, p. 34.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2007, review of Nefertiti, p. 101.

Publishers Weekly, February 5, 2007, review of Nefertiti, p. 43.

Times Literary Supplement, November 19, 1999, Peter Lawson, review of The Man in the White Suit, p. 25.

ONLINE

Armchair Interviews,http://www.armchairinterviews.com/ (August 16, 2007), Jeff Foster, review of Nefertiti.

Bookideas.com,http://www.bookideas.com/ (August 16, 2007), John Walsh, review of Nefertiti.

BookLoons,http://www.bookloons.com/ (August 16, 2007), Mary Ann Smyth, review of Nefertiti.

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (August 16, 2007), Marge Fletcher, review of Nefertiti.

Monsters and Critics,http://books.monstersandcritics.com/ (May 24, 2007), Angela Youngman, review of Nefertiti.

Romulus, My Father Home Page,http://romulusmyfather.com.au (August 16, 2007), biography.