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Matt Whyman

{{short description|British novelist (born 1969)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{BLP sources|date=February 2014}}

{{Infobox writer

| image =

| imagesize = 165px

| name = Matt Whyman

| caption =

| birth_date = 1969

| birth_place = Amersham, Buckinghamshire

| death_place =

| occupation = novelist

| nationality = English

| period = 1993–present

| genre = Young adult fiction

| movement =

| notableworks = Boy Kills Man

| influences =

| influenced =

| website = {{URL|http://www.mattwhyman.com}}

}}

Matt Whyman is a British novelist and non-fiction writer, formerly known for his work as an advice columnist for numerous teenage magazines.

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Biography

Born in 1969, Matt Whyman grew up in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and has an MA from the UEA Creative Writing course (1992) taught by Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. He has written widely for all ages across a range of subjects in fiction and non-fiction, notably Boy Kills Man (2004), a critically acclaimed story of Colombian child assassins published in translation around the world. From January 2023 to July 2024, Whyman was embedded with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team to write The Sunday Times Bestseller, Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane (2024){{Cite web |title=Century races off with first official book from Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/century-races-off-with-first-official-book-from-mercedes-amg-petronas-f1 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}

In 1995, Whyman became the first male advice columnist for 19 magazine. He went on to hold a 10-year residency as AOL UK's online agony uncle,{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/network-boys-dont-cry-they-send-e-mail-1201131.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/network-boys-dont-cry-they-send-e-mail-1201131.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Network: Boys don't cry, they send e-mail|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-09-10|language=en-GB}} and for 18 years at Bliss Magazine from 1996 until its closure in 2014. He has created many national health awareness campaigns for BBC Radio 1, CLIC Sargent,{{Cite news|url=https://www.clicsargent.org.uk/news/20-04-2015-matt-whyman-young-people-cancer-need-better-relationship-and-sex-advice|title=Matt Whyman: Young people with cancer need better relationship and sex advice|work=CLIC Sargent|access-date=2018-09-10|language=en}} Macmillan and Brook Advisory, written widely on teenage issues for the national press, and often appeared on radio and television in this role. In 1997, Whyman co-presented a series of ITV's cult Saturday morning sex and relationships show, Love Bites, and from 2011-2013 served as the resident agony uncle on BBC Radio 1's live advice show, The Surgery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl86/2012/05/13|title=BBC Radio 1 - Schedules, Sunday 13 May 2012|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-09-10}}

As well as teaching creative writing across the UK, and for the British Council in Russia, Mexico,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nodalcultura.am/2015/10/feria-del-libro-en-el-zocalo-en-mexico-df/|title=Feria del Libro en el Zócalo en México DF – NODAL Cultura|website=www.nodalcultura.am|date=9 October 2015|language=es-ES|access-date=2018-08-26}} Africa{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/notes/jahman-anikulapo/15th-lagos-book-art-festival-labaf-2013-the-programme/10151971762827500/|title=15th LAGOS BOOK & ART FESTIVAL, LABAF 2013: The Programme|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=2018-08-26}} and the Middle East,{{cite news |title=Writers work to preserve Yemeni folk tales|author=Huda al-Kibsi |date=2007-09-04 |work=Yemen Observer |url=http://www.yobserver.com/culture-and-society/10012708.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070916031026/http://www.yobserver.com/culture-and-society/10012708.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 September 2007 |access-date=2009-08-10 }} Whyman is an established ghostwriter and collaborative author. In the latter role, he has worked on books with Billy Connolly (Tracks Across America, 2016), Charles Eugster (Age is Just a Number 2017), Matthew Syed (You are Awesome, 2018) and Gareth Southgate (Anything is Possible, 2020) among others. In 2015, he wrote the graphic novel Username: Evie, with the story provided by Joe Sugg, who was credited as the lead author of the work,{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/nov/06/joe-sugg-graphic-novel-zoella-interview|title=Joe Sugg: 'When I said I was doing a graphic novel, a lot of my fans thought it was something sexual...'|last=Sproull|first=Patrick|date=2015-11-06|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-08-26}} and with the art provided by Amrit Birdi, as well as two further titles, Username: Regenerated (2016) and Username: Uprising (2017). Whyman is also the author of The Nice & Accurate Good Omens TV Companion (2019) to accompany the series, Good Omens, based upon the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and Our Planet, based on the Netflix series, with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough.

Matt Whyman lives in West Sussex. He is married with four children.

Books

= Novels =

= Non-fiction =

= Short stories =

Prizes and awards

References

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Category:1969 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of the University of East Anglia

Category:21st-century English novelists

Category:British advice columnists

Category:British writers of young adult literature

Category:English male novelists

Category:21st-century English male writers

Category:People from Amersham

Category:People from Berkhamsted

Category:People from West Sussex

Category:Writers from Buckinghamshire

Category:Writers from Hertfordshire