Geoff Dyer (born 5 June 1958) is an English author. He has written a number of novels and non-fiction books, some of which have won literary awards.
Personal background
Dyer was born and raised in Cheltenham, England, as the only child of a
sheet metal
Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes.
Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...
worker father and a school dinner lady mother. He was educated at the local grammar school and won a scholarship to study English at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
. After graduating from Oxford, he claimed unemployment benefits, and moved into a property in Brixton with other former Oxford students. He credits this period with teaching him the craft of writing. His debut novel, ''The Colour of Memory'', is set in Brixton in the 1980s, the decade that Dyer lived there. The novel has been described as a "fictionalization of Dyer's 20s". He is married to
Rebecca Wilson
Rebecca Louise Wilson (22 December 1961 – 7 October 2016) was an Australian sports journalist, radio and television broadcaster and personality, known for the comic television talk sports show '' The Fat'', in which she appeared regularly wit ...
, chief curator at
Saatchi Art
Saatchi Art is an online art gallery and artist network. Saatchi Art is based in Los Angeles, California.
History
The company was originally known as Saatchi Online. The Saatchi Art marketplace contains original paintings, photography, drawings ...
, Los Angeles. He currently lives in
Venice, California
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
. In March 2014, Dyer said he had had a minor stroke earlier in the year, shortly after moving to live in
Venice, Los Angeles
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
.
Writing career
Dyer is the author of the following novels: ''The Colour of Memory;'' ''The Search;'' ''Paris Trance;'' and ''Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi''. He wrote a critical study of
John Berger
John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...
– ''Ways of Telling –'' and two collections of essays: ''Anglo-English Attitudes'' and ''Working the Room''. A selection of essays from these collections entitled ''Otherwise Known as the Human Condition'' was published in the U.S. in April 2011 and won the
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".But Beautiful'' (on jazz); ''The Missing of the Somme'' (on the memorialization of the First World War); ''Out of Sheer Rage'' (about
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
); ''Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered To Do It;'' ''The Ongoing Moment'' (on photography); ''
Zona
The red-tailed silverside, or zona (''Bedotia geayi'') is a species of Madagascar rainbowfish endemic to the Mananjary River drainage in Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species. It has often been confused with the rel ...
'' (about Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film '' Stalker''); and ''Broadsword Calling Danny Boy'' (about Brian G. Hutton's 1968 film '' Where Eagles Dare''). In 2019, ''Out of Sheer Rage'' was listed by ''Slate'' as one of the 50 greatest nonfiction works of the past 25 years. He is the editor of ''John Berger: Selected Essays'' and co-editor, with Margaret Sartor, of ''What Was True: The Photographs and Notebooks of William Gedney''.
His book ''Another Great Day at Sea'' (2014) chronicles Dyer's experiences on the , where he was writer-in-residence for two weeks. It has been described by
David Finkel
David Louis Finkel (born October 28, 1955) is an American journalist. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 as a staff writer at ''The Washington Post''. As of January 2017, he was national enterprise editor at the ''Post''. He has also worked for th ...
, author of ''Thank You for Your Service'', as "what we’ve all come to expect from Geoff Dyer—another great book. I loved everything about it. It’s brilliantly observed, beautifully written, incisive, funny, and filled with stirring truths about life and the value of service."
Billy Collins
William James Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York (retired, 2016). Collins ...
, the former
United States Poet Laureate
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...
and author of ''Aimless Love'', said: "Geoff Dyer has managed to do again what he does best: insert himself into an exotic and demanding environment (sometimes, his own flat, but here, the violent wonders of an aircraft carrier) and file a report that mixes empathetic appreciation with dips into brilliant comic deflation. Welcome aboard the edifying and sometimes hilarious ship Dyer."
Dyer was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2005. In 2014 he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
In 2013 he served as the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
's Nonfiction Writing Program. He now teaches in the PhD program at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
.
Awards and honours
*1992:
Somerset Maugham Award
The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...
winner for ''But Beautiful''
*1992:
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom ...
shortlisted for ''But Beautiful''
*1998:
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".
*2003:
Lannan Literary Fellowship
The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
International Center of Photography
The International Center of Photography (ICP), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...
(ICP) Infinity Award for Writing on photography for ''The Ongoing Moment''
*2009: '' GQ'' Writer of the Year Award
*2009:
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' an ...
for Best Comic Novel for ''Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi''
*2011:
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".
*2015: Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Non-Fiction) valued at $150,000