Paul McDonald (writer)

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{{Infobox person

| name = Paul McDonald

| image = Paul_McDonald_2007.JPG

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| caption = Paul McDonald

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| birth_place = Walsall, England

| nationality = English

| known_for = Writer and academic

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Paul McDonald (born 1961 in Walsall) is a British academic, comic novelist, and poet.Literary Heritage West Midlands Author Unnamed, page entry 2002. {{cite web |url=http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/tindal.htm |title=Tindal Street Press |accessdate=2012-09-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728153718/http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/tindal.htm |archivedate=28 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }} He teaches English and American Literature at the University of Wolverhampton, where he also runs the Creative and Professional Writing Programme.

He left school at 16 and began work as a saddlemaker, an occupation that provides the backdrop for his first novel, Surviving Sting (2001).Rachel Taylor, [http://www.fiction-net.com/authors/paul-mcdonald.htm "Review of Surviving Sting"], FictionNet, 2001. After a period studying with the Open University, McDonald entered full-time education at Birmingham Polytechnic, where he began writing fiction, initially producing stories for the women's romance market under a female pseudonym.Richard Williamson, [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/STREETHEARTS%3B+The+perils+of+love+in+the+raunchy,+rude,+violent,...-a078970400 "The Perils of Love in the Raunchy, Rude, Violent, Badlands of Walsall"], The Sunday Mercury, 7 October 2001. He later won a scholarship to research a PhD, and in 1994 took an academic post teaching American literature at the University of Wolverhampton.{{cite web |url=http://www.transitiontradition.com/node/194 |title=In Conversation with Author and Lecturer Paul McDonald |work=Transition/Tradition|date=7 December 2008|accessdate=2010-11-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717085032/http://www.transitiontradition.com/node/194 |archivedate=17 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

His second novel, Kiss Me Softly, Amy Turtle (2004) is a comic mystery satirising the Midlands town of Walsall,Anita Sethi, "Escape from Walsall", The Times Literary Supplement, 21 May 2004 (19–20).[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3674756/Melvyn-Braggs-Travels-in-Written-Britain-The-Midlands.html "Melvyn Bragg's Travels in Written Britain: The Midlands"], The Telegraph, 12 July 2007.Jodie Hamilton, [http://www.readysteadybook.com/BookReview.aspx?isbn=0954130375 "Review of Kiss Me Softly Amy Turtle"], Ready Steady Book, 12 April 2005. while his third, Do I Love You? (2008), takes Northern Soul as its theme.Toby Clements, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/fictionreviews/3560966/Saving-the-hapless-male.html "Saving the Hapless Male"], The Telegraph, 20 September 2008.Cahir O'Doherty, [http://www.irishcentral.com/saint_patricks_day/An-essential-reading-guide-for-St-Patricks-season-41096537.html "Do I Love You: Paul McDonald"], Irish Central, March 7th, 2010. His poetry began appearing in the early 1990s and embraces a range of themes and styles. Again humour is a feature, as is surrealism, but he also writes serious love poetry, and verse about art and travel. His most recent collections are Catch a Falling Tortoise (2007) and An Artist Goes Bananas (2012).Caroline Clark, [http://www.gwales.com/bibliographic/?isbn=9781905614226 "Catch a Falling Tortoise"], gwales.com 7 September 2007. McDonald's poetry has won several prizes, including the 2012 John Clare Prize.[http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/421364.article "Appointments"], Times Higher Education Supplement, 4 October 2012. His academic writing includes books on Philip Roth, Joseph Heller, the fiction of The Black Country, and humour.Chris Osborne, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/articles/2007/01/15/paul_mcdonald_feature.shtml "From Saddles to Chuckles"], BBC Black Country Website, January 2008.Jonathan Williams, "Of Roth and Walsall", The Student Times, 3 November 2008 {{cite web |url=http://studenttimes.org/st_culture/book_article.php?article_id=316 |title=Student Times | Entertainment: Books Interviews | of Roth and Walsall |accessdate=2010-11-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728065830/http://studenttimes.org/st_culture/book_article.php?article_id=316 |archivedate=28 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

As a humour specialist, McDonald has made several TV appearances, including on BBC Breakfast and The One Show, and he is credited with identifying the oldest joke in the world.Stephen Adams, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2479730/The-worlds-oldest-jokes-revealed-by-university-research.html "The World's Oldest Joke Revealed by University Research"], The Telegraph. 31 July 2008.John Joseph, [https://web.archive.org/web/20091018150040/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL044518220080730 "World's Oldest Joke Traced Back to 1900 BC"], Reuters Website, 31 July 2008.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7536918.stm "Flatulence joke is world's oldest"], BBC News Website Friday, 1 August 2008. He discusses the latter, and some of the ideas contained in his book The Philosophy of Humour with Michael Grade in the BBC documentary Michael Grade & The World's Oldest Joke.[http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/michael_grade_oldest_joke/ Michael Grade & The World's Oldest Joke], broadcast 6 March 2013 (BBC Four).