Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 September 1962 Northampton, Northamptonshire, England |
| Occupation | Writer, illustrator |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | MA, English Literature |
| Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford Uppingham School Spratton Hall School |
| Period | 1987–present |
| Genre | Novels, children's literature, poetry, screenplays, radio drama |
| Notable awards |
|
| Spouse | Sos Eltis |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | |
| markhaddon | |
Mark Haddon (born 26 September 1962) is an English novelist, best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, the Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Writers Prize for his work.
Life, work and studies
[edit]In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award—in the Novels rather than Children's Books category—for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. He also won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the Best First Book category, as The Curious Incident was considered his first book written for adults.[1] Despite being categorized as an adult book for some awards, Haddon also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2003 for the book.[2] The book was furthermore long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize,[3] and became a long-running stage play.
The Curious Incident is written from the perspective of an autistic 15-year-old boy, Christopher John Francis Boone. In an interview at Powells.com, Haddon claimed that this was the first book that he wrote intentionally for an adult audience; he was surprised when his publisher suggested marketing it to both adult and child audiences (it has been very successful with adults and children alike).[1] However, it has also received criticism from autistic readers for its 'depressing' depiction of Christopher, the autistic protagonist.[4]
His short story "The Pier Falls" was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the richest prize in the world for a single short story.[5] He published a collection of short stories inspired by classical mythology called Dogs and Monsters in 2024.[6]
In 2023, he turned down an OBE for his services to literature, saying: 'I would feel uneasy accepting an honour which presumes an uncritical acceptance of the British Empire as a good thing.'[7]
Personal life
[edit]Haddon is a vegetarian. He describes himself as a "hard-line atheist".[8][9] In 2019, a heart bypass followed by Long Covid left him with brain fog that made him unable to read or write. He spoke to The Guardian in 2024 about his 5-year-long process of partial recovery, saying that although he still couldn't read properly, the fog was 'starting to thin a little.'[10]
Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife Sos Eltis, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and their two sons.[8]
Works
[edit]- Gilbert's Gobstopper (1987)
- Toni and the Tomato Soup (1988)
- A Narrow Escape for Princess Sharon (1989)
- Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader (1993)
- Titch Johnson, Almost World Champion (1993)
- Agent Z Goes Wild (1994)
- At Home
- At Playgroup
- In the Garden
- On Holiday
- Gridzbi Spudvetch! (1992)
- The Real Porky Philips (1994)
- Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars (1995)
- The Sea of Tranquility (1996)
- Secret Agent Handbook
- Agent Z and the Killer Bananas (2001)
- Ocean Star Express (2001)
- The Ice Bear's Cave (2002)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003)
- Boom! (An improved version of Gridzbi Spudvetch) (2009)
For adults
[edit]- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003)
- A Spot of Bother (2006)
- The Red House (2012)
- The Pier Falls (2016)
- The Porpoise (2019)
- Social Distance (graphic short story, 2020)[11]
Poetry
[edit]Play
[edit]- Polar Bears (2010)
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "The curiously irresistible literary debut of Mark Haddon '", Powells.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
- ^ The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2003 (top page). The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Jordan, Justine (15 August 2003). "Booker longlist includes Amis, snubs Carey". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "I have autism and the lack of authentic autistic voices in books angers me". The Guardian. 3 April 2016. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ "World's Richest Story Prize". The Sunday Times. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015.
- ^ Clark, Alex (25 August 2024). "Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon review – myth and legend refocused in deft short stories". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ Haddon, Mark (3 July 2024). "Mark Haddon: why I turned down an OBE". New Statesman. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ a b 'Inside a curious mind', The Times. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
- ^ 'B is for bestseller', The Observer. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
- ^ Haddon, Mark (16 August 2024). "The curious incident of the author who couldn't read or write: Mark Haddon on long Covid and overcoming five years of brain fog". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ Haddon, Mark (20 May 2020). "Social Distance: a graphic short story for the coronavirus age by Mark Haddon". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Mark Haddon at British Council: Literature
- Mark Haddon at IMDb
- Mark Haddon discussed the rituals and processes that guides his work.
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (official)
- A Spot of Bother (official)
- Interview: Coming Down the Mountain
- Haddon, Mark. "Writers' rooms: Mark Haddon", The Guardian (London), 29 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- Freeman, Hadley. "Novelist Mark Haddon talks to Hadley Freeman", The Guardian (London), 29 May 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- 1962 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English male writers
- 20th-century English novelists
- 21st-century English male writers
- 21st-century English novelists
- Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
- British republicans
- Costa Book Award winners
- English atheists
- English children's writers
- English male novelists
- English male screenwriters
- English screenwriters
- Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners
- New Statesman people
- People educated at Uppingham School
- People from Northampton
- O. Henry Award winners