Alex Christofi
{{short description|British author|bot=PearBOT 5}}
Alex Christofi is a British author and book editor.
Early life
Christofi was born in Dorset to a British mother and Cypriot father, and grew up in Bournemouth. He was educated at Bournemouth School, where his father was a teacher.{{cite news |last1=Westhead |first1=Ian |title=2019 Guest Speaker |url=http://oldbournemouthians.co.uk/2019/10/16/guest-speaker/ |accessdate=21 January 2020 |work=oldbournemouthians.co.uk |date=16 October 2019}}
He earned a degree in English from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.{{cite web |title=LMH News – Issue 1 2018 |url=https://issuu.com/ciconiltd/docs/lmh-news-issue-1-2018 |website=Issuu |accessdate=21 January 2020}}
Career
Before publishing his first novel, Christofi worked as a literary agent for over five years. In 2015, he published his debut novel Glass. It tells the story of Gunter Glass, a 22-year-old, half-German window cleaner.{{cite news |last1=O'Kelly |first1=Lisa |last2=Hoggard |first2=Liz |last3=Jones |first3=Corinne |last4=Bromwich |first4=Kathryn |last5=Kellaway |first5=Kate |last6=Clark |first6=Alex |last7=Scholes |first7=Lucy |title=New faces of fiction 2015 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/11/debut-novelists-of-2015-jesse-armstrong-claire-fuller-laura-barnett-jessica-cornwell |accessdate=31 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=11 January 2015 |language=en}} For Glass, he won the 2016 Betty Trask Prize.{{cite news |last1=Cowdrey |first1=Katherine |title=Christofi debut wins £10k Betty Trask Prize {{!}} The Bookseller |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/society-authors-presents-2016s-author-awards-336101 |accessdate=31 August 2018 |work=The Bookseller |date=22 June 2016 |language=en}} In 2017, he published his second novel, Let Us Be True, about a German-born couple falling in love in post-war France.{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Carys |title=It's the Weekend: Book reviews |url=http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/15483137.It__39_s_the_Weekend__Book_reviews/ |accessdate=31 August 2018 |work=South Wales Argus |date=19 August 2017 |language=en}} His biography Dostoevsky in Love: An Intimate Life was shortlisted for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize.{{Cite web |title=Atkins, Ypi and Christofi compete for Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/eileen-atkins-and-alex-chistofi-vie-2021-slightly-foxed-best-first-biography-prize-1297251 |access-date=2023-07-17 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}
In 2015, Christofi was appointed commissioning editor for non-fiction at Oneworld, previously working for Conville and Walsh.{{cite news |last1=Onwuemezi |first1=Natasha |title=Oneworld appoints Christofi as commissioning editor {{!}} The Bookseller |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/oneworld-appoints-new-commissioning-editor-312784 |accessdate=31 August 2018 |work=The Bookseller |date=16 September 2015 |language=en}} In February 2020, it was announced he would be leaving Oneworld to join Transworld Publishers's non-fiction team as an editorial director in April of that year.{{cite news |last1=Leslie |first1=Florence |title=Christofi trades Oneworld for Transworld {{!}} The Bookseller |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/alex-christofi-appointed-editorial-director-transworld-non-fiction-1192485 |accessdate=20 February 2020 |work=The Bookseller |date=18 February 2020}}
"Book Murderer" Viral Controversy
In early 2020, Christofi tweeted a photograph of several books cut in half, saying he cuts "long books in half to make them more portable." The tweet subsequently went viral, becoming the subject of several news stories and caused a large amount of conversation on Twitter.{{cite web |last1=Rosenblatt |first1=Kahlan |title=Tweet about cutting books in half sends Twitter into tailspin |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/tweet-about-cutting-books-half-sends-twitter-tailspin-n1119356 |website=NBC News|date=21 January 2020 }}{{cite web |last1=Schaub |first1=Michael |title='Book Murderer' Leaves Literary Twitter Aghast |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/book-murderer-leaves-literary-twitter-aghast/ |website=Kirkus Reviews}} He later wrote an editorial for The Guardian entitled "I am the 'book murderer', but I tear them apart out of love."{{cite news |last1=Christofi |first1=Alex |title=I am the 'book murderer', but I tear them apart out of love |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/22/book-murderer-tear-apart-love-alex-christofi |website=The Guardian|date=22 January 2020 }}
Personal life
Christofi currently lives in London.{{cite news |last1=Fishwick |first1=Samuel |title=Meet the debutants: hot summer reads by new novelists |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/meet-the-debutants-hot-summer-reads-by-new-novelists-10391423.html |accessdate=31 August 2018 |work=Evening Standard |date=16 July 2015}}
Published works
- Glass (2015){{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/09/glass-alex-christofi-comic-ordinary-life-well |title=Glass by Alex Christofi review – a comic look at how to live |first=Jenn |last=Ashworth |date=9 May 2015 |work=The Guardian }}
- Let Us Be True (2017){{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/review-let-us-be-true-by-alex-christofi-cbsb0sx3g|title=Review: Let Us Be True by Alex Christofi|first=James|last=Marriott|date=12 August 2017|work=The Times}}
- Dostoevsky in Love (2021){{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Frances |date=2021-01-14 |title=Dostoevsky in Love by Alex Christofi review – unpredictable, dangerous and thrilling |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/14/dostoevsky-in-love-by-alex-christofi-review-unpredictable-dangerous-and-thrilling |access-date=2023-07-17 |issn=0261-3077}}
References
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Category:British literary agents
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Category:British people of Cypriot descent
Category:Writers from Bournemouth