Mark Haddon

{{Infobox writer

| name = Mark Haddon

| image =

| caption =

| pseudonym =

| education = MA, English Literature

| alma_mater = Merton College, Oxford
Uppingham School
Spratton Hall School

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|9|26|df=y}}

| birth_place = Northampton, Northamptonshire, England

| death_date =

| nationality = English

| occupation = Writer, illustrator

| period = 1987–present

| genre = Novels, children's literature, poetry, screenplays, radio drama

| movement =

| notableworks =

| awards = {{ubl|

|Guardian Prize 2003 }}

| spouse = Sos Eltis

| children = 2

| signature =

| website = {{URL|markhaddon.com}}

}}

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

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. Despite being categorized as an adult book for some awards, Haddon also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2003 for the book. The book was also long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize. {{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/aug/15/bookerprize2003.thebookerprize|title=Booker longlist includes Amis, snubs Carey|last=Jordan|first=Justine|date=2003-08-15|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-01|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} It was adapted as a stage play and was successful for a long run.

The Curious Incident is written from the perspective of a 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).Dave (10 October 2006), [http://www.powells.com/blog/interviews/the-curiously-irresistible-literary-debut-of-mark-haddon-by-dave "The curiously irresistible literary debut of Mark Haddon"], Powells.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011. However, it has also been criticised by some autistic readers who objected to its 'depressing' depiction of Christopher, the autistic protagonist.{{Cite news |date=2016-04-03 |title=I have autism and the lack of authentic autistic voices in books angers me |url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/apr/03/autism-voices-books-awareness-week|first=Sara |last=Barrett |access-date=2024-09-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Haddon's 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/stefg/article1512207.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207014107/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/stefg/article1512207.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 February 2015 |title=World's Richest Story Prize |work=The Sunday Times |date=1 February 2015}} He published a collection of short stories inspired by classical mythology called Dogs and Monsters in 2024.{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Alex|author-link=Alex Clark (journalist) |date=2024-08-25 |title=Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon review – myth and legend refocused in deft short stories |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/25/dogs-and-monsters-by-mark-haddon-review-myth-and-legend-refocused-in-deft-short-stories |access-date=2024-09-04 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}

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.'{{Cite web |last=Haddon |first=Mark |date=2024-07-03 |title=Mark Haddon: why I turned down an OBE |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024/07/mark-haddon-why-i-turned-down-an-obe |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}

Personal life

Haddon is a vegetarian. He describes himself as a "hard-line atheist".{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article647138.ece |title=Inside a curious mind|newspaper=The Times|first=Simon|last=Crompton|date=23 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604233218/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article647138.ece |access-date= 11 May 2008|archive-date=4 June 2010 }}{{cite news|url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,1189538,00.html |title=B is for bestseller|first=Mark|last=Haddon|newspaper=The Observer|date=11 April 2004|access-date=11 May 2008}} In 2019, he had heart bypass surgery. Later he contracted COVID-19 and, as he recovered, was diagnosed with long COVID. He has struggled with "brain fog" that left him unable to read or write. In 2024 he spoke to The Guardian about his five-year-long process of partial recovery, saying that although he still could not read properly, the fog was "starting to thin a little".{{Cite news |last=Haddon |first=Mark |date=2024-08-16 |title=The curious incident of the author who couldn't read or write: Mark Haddon on long Covid and overcoming five years of brain fog |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/16/the-curious-incident-of-the-author-who-couldnt-read-or-write-mark-haddon-on-long-covid-and-overcoming-five-years-of-brain-fog |access-date=2024-09-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife Sos Eltis, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and their two sons.

Works

=For children=

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=

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){{cite news|last=Haddon|first=Mark|title=Social Distance: a graphic short story for the coronavirus age by Mark Haddon|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2020/may/20/social-distance-mark-haddon-graphic-short-story-coronavirus-age|work=The Guardian |access-date=20 May 2020|date=20 May 2020}}

Dogs and Monsters (2024)

= Poetry =

The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea 2007

= Play =

Polar Bears (2010)

References

{{Reflist |25em |refs=

[http://books.guardian.co.uk/guardianchildrensprize2003/0,,989688,00.html The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2003] (top page). The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2013.

}}

External links

{{official website }}
{{british council |mark-haddon }}
{{IMDb name|id=0352738}}
[http://iai.tv/video/new-awakenings Mark Haddon] discussed the rituals and processes that guides his work.
[http://www.markhaddon.com/curious.htm The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time] (official)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928092747/http://www.aspotofbother.co.uk/ A Spot of Bother] (official)
[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/mark-haddon-first-he-tackled-aspergers-now-the-writer-is-putting-downs-syndrome-in-the-spotlight-with-a-new-drama-463565.html Interview: Coming Down the Mountain]
Freeman, Hadley. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/may/29/hayfestival2006.hayfestival "Novelist Mark Haddon talks to Hadley Freeman"], The Guardian (London), 29 May 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
Haddon, Mark. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/29/writers.rooms.mark.haddon "Writers' rooms: Mark Haddon"], The Guardian (London), 29 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2011.