Gavin Extence

{{Short description|English writer}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}

{{Infobox writer

|name = Gavin Extence

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|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1982}}

|birth_place = Swineshead, Lincolnshire, England

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|occupation = Writer

|nationality = English

|genre = Novels

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|awards = Waterstones 11 (2013)

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Gavin Extence (born 1982) is an English writer. Extence won the Waterstones 11 literary prize for his first book The Universe Versus Alex Woods (2013). He has a PhD in Film studies, is married, has a daughter and is also a keen chess player.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hodder.co.uk/Authors/Gavin+Extence.page |title=Gavin Extence |work=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=14 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529055409/https://www.hodder.co.uk/Authors/Gavin+Extence.page |archive-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.foyles.co.uk/gavin-extence |title=Interview with Gavin Extence |work=Foyles |accessdate=14 June 2017}}

The Universe Versus Alex Woods is Extence's début novel and is "the everyday tale of a teenage science nerd hit by a meteorite who strikes up a friendship with a pot-smoking Vietnam veteran".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/06/rising-star-gavin-extence-novel |title=Rising Star, Interview with Gavin Extence |first=Emma |last=John |newspaper=The Observer |date=6 January 2013 |accessdate=14 June 2017}} It is the story of wilful teenager Alex, who acquires a fascination with science and astronomy after being struck by a falling meteorite and going into a coma. After recovering, Alex forms an unusual friendship with an aged, dope-smoking Vietnam veteran, the reclusive Mr. Peterson, who is a dedicated aficionado of Kurt Vonnegut.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/17/universe-alex-woods-extence-review |first=Alexander |last=Larman |title=The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence – review |newspaper=The Observer |date=17 February 2013 |accessdate=8 April 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.alexwoodsbook.co.uk/author.html |title=The Universe Versus Alex Woods |work=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=14 June 2017}}

His second book The Mirror World of Melody Black was released in 2015 and follows a young girl's descent into mental illness.