Gerard Woodward
{{Short description|British novelist, poet and short story writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox author
| birth_date = {{bda|1961|12|04|df=y}}
| birth_place = Enfield, London, England
| education = London School of Economics (BSc), University of Greenwich (CertEd), University of Manchester (PgD)
| notable_works = {{plainlist|
- August (2001)
- I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004)
}}
| awards = {{plainlist|
- Somerset Maugham Award (1992)
- Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (2014)
}}
}}
Gerard Woodward (born 4 December 1961 in Enfield, London) is a British novelist, poet and short story writer, best known for his trilogy of novels concerning the troubled Jones family, the second of which, I'll Go to Bed at Noon, was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. As of April 2024, he is a professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University.
Early life and education
Woodward was born in Enfield, London on 4 December 1961 to Reginald L. and Sylvia Woodward ({{Nee|Walsh}}).{{Cite web |title=Woodward, Gerard (Vaughan) 1961- |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/woodward-gerard-vaughan-1961 |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325112056/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/woodward-gerard-vaughan-1961 |url-status=live }} He had four younger siblings. In 1981, his brother Francis died after being struck by a train while drunk. His mother died shortly after.{{Cite news |last=Crown |first=Sarah |date=2012-11-23 |title=A life in writing: Gerard Woodward |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/nov/23/life-in-writing-gerard-woodward |access-date=2024-04-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=23 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123021453/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/nov/23/life-in-writing-gerard-woodward |url-status=live }}
Woodward attended St Ignatius College, a Jesuit comprehensive school, leaving at 16 to work for two years in a variety of jobs. He later studied painting at Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall, though dropped out in his second year. Woodward ultimately received a Bachelor of Science Honours in social anthropology from London School of Economics, a Certificate in Education from the University of Greenwich, and a postgraduate diploma in social anthropology from the University of Manchester.{{Cite web |title=Gerard Woodward |url=https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/our-people/gerard-woodward/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Bath Spa University |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923121319/https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/our-people/gerard-woodward/ |url-status=live }} In 2019, Woodward received an Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University.{{Cn|date=April 2024}}
Career
In 1989, Woodward won a Eric Gregory Award for poets under 30.{{Cite web |date=2020-05-08 |title=Eric Gregory Awards |url=https://www2.societyofauthors.org/prizes/the-soa-awards/eric-gregory-awards/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=The Society of Authors |language=en-GB |archive-date=14 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414170507/https://www2.societyofauthors.org/prizes/the-soa-awards/eric-gregory-awards/ |url-status=live }} He published his first poetry collection, Householder, in 1991; it won the year's Somerset Maugham Award. His later poetry collections include After the Deafening (1994); Island to Island (1999); We Were Pedestrians (2005); and The Seacunny (2012). In 2001, he published his first novel, August, which was the first in a trilogy, followed by I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004) and A Curious Earth (2007). August was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Award, and I'll Go to Bed at Noon was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.{{Cite web |title=Gerard Woodward - Literature |url=https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/gerard-woodward |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=British Council |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926225444/https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/gerard-woodward |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Lyall |first=Sarah |date=20 October 2004 |title=Tale of Gay Life in Britain Wins a Top Literary Prize |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/books/20booker.html |accessdate=13 June 2011 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=28 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528054740/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/books/20booker.html |url-status=live }} Woodward has since published the short story collection Caravan Thieves (2008) and the novels Nourishment (2010) and Vanishing (2014).
Woodward has been a writer-in-residence at Columbia College Chicago (2011) and the Stockholm University (2013). He has taught or been a writer in residence in many countries including China, Greece, Sweden, Slovenia and Ireland.{{Cn|date=April 2024}} Since 2004, Woodward has worked in the creative writing department at Bath Spa University; as of April 2024, he runs the Ph.D. programme with Tracy Brain. He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2005.{{Cite web |title=Woodward, Gerard |url=https://rsliterature.org/fellows/gerard-woodward/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Royal Society of Literature |date=September 2023 |language=en-GB}}
Awards and honors
In 1989, Woodward won the Eric Gregory Award for poets under age 30. He received an Arts Council England bursary for poetry in 1994 and for fiction in 1999. He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2005.
Householder (1991) and After The Deafening (1994) have been Poetry Book Society Choice books.{{Cn|date=April 2024}}
Personal life
Woodward met his wife Suzanne Jane Anderson while studying at Falmouth School of Art. He has two children: Corin and Phoebe.
Bibliography
=Poetry=
- The Unwriter & Other Poems (1989)
- Householder (1991), {{ISBN|0-7011-3758-4}}
- After the Deafening (1994), {{ISBN|0-7011-6271-6}}
- Island to Island (1999), {{ISBN|0-7011-6869-2}}
- We Were Pedestrians (2005), {{ISBN|0-7011-7887-6}}
- The Seacunny (2012)
- The Vulture (2022)
=Fiction=
- August (2001), {{ISBN|0-7011-7111-1}}
- I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004), {{ISBN|0-7011-7118-9}}
- A Curious Earth (2007)
- Caravan Thieves (short stories; 2008)
- Nourishment (2010; published as Letters from an Unknown Woman in the US)
- Vanishing (2014)
- Legoland (short stories; 2016), {{ISBN|978-1447288671}}
- The Paper Lovers (2018)
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Alumni of Falmouth University
Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:Academics of Bath Spa University
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Category:English male novelists