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.
Mark Haddon | |
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Born | Northampton, Northamptonshire, England | 26 September 1962
Occupation | Writer, illustrator |
Nationality | British |
Education | MA, English Literature |
Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford Uppingham School Spratton Hall School |
Period | 1987–present |
Genre | Novels, children's literature, poetry, screenplays, radio drama |
Notable awards |
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Spouse | Sos Eltis |
Children | 2 |
Website | |
markhaddon |
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;[1] he also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a once-in-a-lifetime award judged by a panel of children's writers.[2] The book was furthermore long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize.[3]
The Curious Incident is written from the perspective of an autistic 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).[1]
His 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.[4]
Haddon is a vegetarian. He describes himself as a "hard-line atheist".[5][6]
Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife Sos Eltis, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and their two sons.[5]