Patrick Ness
{{Short description| American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter (born 1971)}}
{{for|the early 20th-century English traveler|Mrs. Patrick Ness }}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Patrick Ness
| honorific_suffix = FRSL
| image = Patrick Ness by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| caption = Ness in 2025
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1971|10|17}}
| birth_place = Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S.
| nationality = American-British
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Author
- writer
- producer}}
| genre = Young adult
| spouse = {{Plainlist}}
- {{marriage|Unknown|2013|end=div}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/books/class-writer-patrick-ness-on-his-new-novel-about-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-teenager-coming-out/|title=Class writer Patrick Ness on his new novel about a day in the life of a teenager coming out|last=Jones|first= Nicolette|date= 18 May 2017|website=RadioTimes|access-date= 13 March 2023|quote="Ness, who married his civil partner in 2013..."}}
- {{marriage|Nick Coveney|2022}}{{Cite instagram |author=Patrick Ness |user=patricknessbooks |postid=CpAbC5Gui8S |date=23 February 2023 |title=I don't share many personal details online (and still won't), but after a very rough four or five years in which I got divorced, I got married in Vegas on the spur of the moment last October to @nmjcoveney and it's just the best thing. |access-date=23 February 2023}}
{{Endplainlist}}
| children =
| alma_mater = University of Southern California
}}
Patrick Ness FRSL (born 17 October 1971) is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking (2008–2010) trilogy and A Monster Calls (2011).
Ness won the annual Carnegie Medal in 2011 and in 2012, for Monsters of Men and A Monster Calls.{{efn|The publication years defining the two Carnegie Medals were September to August 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, approximately the latest completed school years.}}
He is one of seven writers to win two Medals, and the second to win consecutively.
He wrote the screenplay of the 2016 film adaptation of A Monster Calls, and was the creator and writer of the Doctor Who spin-off series Class.
Early life
Ness was born near the Fort Belvoir Army base, near Alexandria, Virginia, where his father was a Sergeant in the US Army. They moved to Hawaii, where he lived until he was six, then spent the next ten years in Washington, before moving to Los Angeles. Ness studied English Literature at the University of Southern California.
After graduating, he worked as corporate writer for a cable company. He published his first story in Genre in 1997 and was working on his first novel when he moved to London in 1999.
Career
Ness's first novel, The Crash of Hennington, was published in 2003,{{Cite web|url=http://patrickness.com/book/the-crash-of-hennington/|title=The Crash of Hennington|publisher=patrickness.com|language=en-US|access-date=16 February 2017}} and was followed by his short story collection, Topics About Which I Know Nothing, in 2004.{{Cite web|url=http://patrickness.com/book/topics-about-which-i-know-nothing/|title=Topics about Which I Know Nothing|publisher=patrickness.com|language=en-US|access-date=16 February 2017}}
Ness's first young adult novel was The Knife of Never Letting Go. It won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2008.
The book was followed by The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men. Together, the three books make up the Chaos Walking trilogy. Ness has also written three short stories set in the Chaos Walking universe; the prequels "The New World" and "The Wide, Wide Sea", and "Snowscape", which is set after the events of Monsters of Men. The short stories are available as free-to-download ebooks,{{cite web | url=http://www.patrickness.com/2013/05/free-brand-new-chaos-walking-s-1.html | title=Free brand new Chaos Walking short stories!! | publisher=patrickness.com | date=30 March 2013 | access-date=7 September 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827153638/http://www.patrickness.com/2013/05/free-brand-new-chaos-walking-s-1.html | archive-date=27 August 2013 | df=dmy-all}} and have been included in the 2013 UK print editions of the novels.{{cite web | url=http://www.patrickness.com/2013/05/uk-chaos-walking-rejackets-out.html | title=UK Chaos Walking rejackets out today with new short stories! | publisher=patrickness.com | date=2 May 2013 | access-date=7 September 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917160051/http://www.patrickness.com/2013/05/uk-chaos-walking-rejackets-out.html | archive-date=17 September 2013 | df=dmy-all}}
A Monster Calls originated with the Irish writer, Siobhan Dowd, who had been diagnosed with cancer and was unable to complete the story before she died in 2007. Dowd and Ness shared an editor at Walker, Denise Johnstone-Burt, and after Dowd's death, Walker arranged for Ness to complete the story from her notes. Ness says his only guideline was to write a book he thought Dowd would have liked. Jim Kay was hired to illustrate the book, and the two completed the book without meeting. Ness won the Carnegie and Kay won the companion Kate Greenaway Medal, the first time one book has won both medals.
Ness was the author of Tip of the Tongue, an e-short featuring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa as part Puffin's eleven Doctor Who e-shorts in honour of the show's 50th anniversary, released on 23 May 2013.{{cite news|author=Patrick Ness |url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/interactive/2013/may/07/doctor-who-tip-of-the-tongue-patrick-ness-extract |title=Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness – extract | Children's books |work=The Guardian |date=7 May 2013 |access-date=5 December 2013}}{{Cite web |title=Doctor Who: Tip Of The Tongue |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/192770/doctor-who-tip-of-the-tongue-by-ness-patrick/9781405912136 |access-date=4 February 2025 |website=Penguin Books|date=23 May 2013 }}
His fourth young adult novel, More Than This, was published on 5 September 2013.{{cite web |author=Patrick on |url=http://www.patrickness.com/2013/08/events-lots-of-em.html |title=Events! Lots of 'em! – Diary |publisher=Patrick Ness |date=29 August 2013 |access-date=5 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216035641/http://www.patrickness.com/2013/08/events-lots-of-em.html |archive-date=16 December 2013 |df=dmy-all}} It later made the Carnegie Medal shortlist of 2015.Emily Drabble, [https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/mar/17/carnegie-medal-and-kate-greenaway-2015-shortlists-announced "Carnegie medal and Kate Greenaway 2015 shortlists announced"], The Guardian, 17 March 2015.
The Crane Wife, Ness's third novel for adults, was published on 30 December 2014.
In 2014, Ness delivered the keynote speech at the Children's and Young Adult Program of the Berlin International Literature Festival.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here was published 25 August 2015 in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and 5 October 2015 in Canada and the United States.
On 1 October 2015, the BBC announced that Ness would be writing a Doctor Who spin-off entitled Class.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/953c5b1f-3cc8-4db9-8184-f1b6567260f1|title=Doctor Who Spin Off: Class|date=1 October 2015|website=Doctor Who|access-date=24 August 2016}} The resulting eight-part series aired on BBC Three's online channel toward the end of 2016. The BBC cancelled Class after one series.
Release, was published on 4 May 2017, described by Ness as a "private and intense book" with more personal inspiration than any before it.{{cite news|author=Alex Moreland |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-interview-best-selling-author-patrick-ness-new-book-release-future-doctor-spinoff-class-145819279.html|title=Exclusive Interview: Best-selling author Patrick Ness on his new book Release, the future of his Doctor Who spinoff Class, and more!|publisher=Yahoo UK|date=6 May 2017|access-date=3 June 2017}}
In June 2021, Ness was said to be preparing a prequel script to the Napoleonic sea adventure movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, based on the works of Patrick O'Brian.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/06/20th-century-master-and-commander-patrick-ness-1234769535/|title=New 'Master and Commander' Movie in Works at 20th Century; Patrick Ness Penning Prequel|date=4 June 2021}}
Personal life
Ness was naturalised as a British citizen in 2005. He entered into a civil partnership with his partner in 2006, less than two months after the Civil Partnership Act came into force.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/24/featuresreviews.guardianreview1|title=We two boys together clinging|last=Ness|first=Patrick|date=24 June 2006|access-date=7 September 2013|work=The Guardian}} In February 2023, Patrick disclosed on Instagram that he had married Nick Coveney in Las Vegas in October 2022. He also stated that within the previous "4 or 5 years" he had gotten divorced.
Ness taught creative writing at the University of Oxford and has written and reviewed for The Daily Telegraph, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Telegraph and The Guardian. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, and was the first Writer in Residence for BookTrust.{{Cite web|url=https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/patrick-ness|title=Patrick Ness - Literature|website=literature.britishcouncil.org|language=en|access-date=2017-08-12}}
In 2023, Ness was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/12/royal-society-of-literature-aims-to-broaden-representation-as-it-announces-62-new-fellows|title=Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows|first=Ella|last=Creamer|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 July 2023}}
Awards
{{Incomplete list|date=April 2024}}
The Rest of Us Just Live Here received many awards, including six starred reviews and the Kirkus Best Book of the Year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rest-of-us-just-live-here-patrick-ness/1120872004#productInfoTabs|title=The Rest of Us Just Live Here|last=Noble|first=Barnes &|website=Barnes & Noble|language=en|access-date=16 February 2017}}
Works
=Novels=
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=The Crash of Hennington |publisher= |year=2003 |isbn= |publication-place= |pages= |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=The Crane Wife |publisher=Canongate Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-0857868718 |edition=hardcover |publication-place= |pages=1–311 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
=Novels for young adults=
== ''[[Chaos Walking]]'' series ==
- The Knife of Never Letting Go (2008)
- The Ask and the Answer (2009)
- Monsters of Men (2010)
- Short stories
- : 1.5. "The New World" (2009)
- : 2.5. "The Wide, Wide Sea" (2013)
- : 3.5. "Snowscape" (2013)
== ''[[The New World Trilogy]]'' ==
- Piper at the Gates of Dusk (Spring 2026)
== Standalone ==
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=A Monster Calls |publisher=Walker Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-1406334906 |edition=paperback 1st |publication-place= |pages=1–215 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=More Than This |publisher=Walker Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-1406331158 |edition=hardcover |publication-place= |pages=1–480 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=The Rest of Us Just Live Here |publisher=Walker Books |year=2015 |isbn=978-1406331165 |edition=hardcover 1st |publication-place= |pages=1–348 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=Release |publisher=Walker Books |year=2017 |isbn=978-1406377279 |edition=paperback 1st |publication-place= |pages=1–287 |language=English |author-mask=2}} (2017)
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=And the Ocean Was Our Sky |publisher=Walker Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1406383560 |edition=hardcover 1st |publication-place= |pages=1–160 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=Burn |publisher=Walker Books |year=2020 |isbn=978-1406375503 |edition=hardcover 1st |publication-place= |pages=1–383 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=Different for Boys |publisher=Walker Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1536228892 |edition=Hardcover |publication-place= |pages=1–104 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=Chronicles of a Lizard |publisher=Walker Books |year=2024 |isbn=978-1536235937 |edition=Hardcover |publication-place= |pages=1–208 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Patrick |title=Chronicles of a Lizard: The Hat of Great Importance |publisher=Walker Books |year=2025 |isbn=978-1536241266 |edition=Hardcover |publication-place= |pages=1–208 |language=English |author-mask=2}}
=Short stories=
- "Different for Boys", collected in Losing it (2010)Review: {{Cite web |last=Carroll |first=Cameron Woodhead and Steven |date=2023-03-17 |title=Shades of Dahl controversy in brilliant young adult novel |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/shades-of-dahl-controversy-in-brilliant-young-adult-novel-20230313-p5crls.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}
- "Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue" (2013), collected in Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories (2019)
- "This Whole Demoing Thing", collected in Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales, ed. Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant (2014)
==Collections==
- Topics About Which I Know Nothing (2004), collection of 11 short stories:
- : "Implied Violence", "The Way All Trends Do", "Ponce de Leon is a Retired Married Couple From Toronto", "Jesus' Elbows and Other Christian Urban Myths", "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?", "Sydney is a City of Jaywalkers", "2,115 Opportunities", "The Motivations of Sally Rae Wentworth, Amazon", "The Seventh International Military War Games Dance Committee Quadrennial Competition and Jamboree", "The Gifted", "Now That You've Died"
Filmography
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-right:auto; margin-right:auto"
! rowspan="2" | Year ! rowspan="2" | Title ! colspan="2" | Credited as ! rowspan="2" | Notes ! rowspan="2" | Ref. |
| width=65 | Writer
! width=65 | Executive Producer |
|---|
| 2016
| align="left" |A Monster Calls |{{yes}} |{{yes}} | align="left" |Based on his novel A Monster Calls (2011) |
| 2016
| align="left" |Class | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | align="left" |Doctor Who television spin-off; also creator (8 episodes) |
| 2021
| align="left" | Chaos Walking | {{yes}} | | align="left" |Co-screenwriter (with Christopher Ford). Based on his novel The Knife of Never Letting Go. |first=Brian|last=Boone|date=26 June 2019|language=en-US|access-date=30 May 2020}} |
See also
{{Portal bar |Children's literature |Science fiction}}
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=129 (Carnegie Winner 2011)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129234000/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=129 |date=29 January 2013}}. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/press.php?release=pres_2011_ann_carnegie.htm "Press Desk: 'Chaos' Reigns, Patrick Ness Wins ..."]. Press release 23 June 2011. CILIP. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130129235703/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=132 (Carnegie Winner 2012)]. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/press.php?release=pres_2012_winner_carn.html "Press Desk: An Historic Moment in Children's Literature, Patrick Ness Wins ..."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231007/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/press.php?release=pres_2012_winner_carn.html |date=3 March 2016}}. Press release 14 June 2012, with press kit. CILIP. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/ Press Desk] (directory). CILIP. Retrieved 8 August 2012. Quote: "media releases relating to the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards in date order." (2002 to 2006 releases concern 2001 to 2005 awards.)
[https://www.theguardian.com/books/guardian-children-s-fiction-prize-2008 Guardian children's fiction prize 2008] (top page). The Guardian. 12 July 2012.
[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize "Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners"], The Guardian, 12 March 2001. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
}}
External links/sources
- {{official website |http://www.patrickness.com/}}
- {{british council|patrick-ness}}
- {{isfdb name |111689 |Patrick Ness}}
- {{LCAuth|nb2003094253|Patrick Ness|8|ue}}
- [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/sep/06/childrensprize.patrickness The Knife Of Never Letting Go, chapter one]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwWZHYJUF8s&t=137s Opening speech by Ness at the children and youth program of the International Literature Festival Berlin]
{{Authority control}}
{{Patrick Ness}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ness, Patrick}}
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:21st-century American screenwriters
Category:21st-century American short story writers
Category:21st-century British novelists
Category:21st-century British screenwriters
Category:21st-century British short story writers
Category:Academics of the University of Oxford
Category:American children's writers
Category:American emigrants to England
Category:American LGBTQ journalists
Category:American LGBTQ novelists
Category:American male novelists
Category:British LGBTQ journalists
Category:British LGBTQ writers
Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Category:Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners
Category:LGBTQ people from Virginia
Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Category:Novelists from Virginia
Category:People from Fairfax County, Virginia
Category:People from Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Category:Screenwriters from Virginia