Patrick Ness (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'' trilogy and '' A Monster Calls''. Ness won the annual Carnegie Medal in 2011 and in 2012, for '' Monsters of Men'' and '' A Monster Calls''. 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 ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' spin-off series ''

Class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

''.

Early life

Ness was born near the

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fai ...

Army base, near

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

, where his father was a lieutenant in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. They moved to Hawaii, where he lived until he was six, then spent the next ten years in

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

, before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Ness studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

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 ...

. After graduating, he worked as corporate writer for a cable company. He published his first story in ''

Genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

'' magazine 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, and was followed by his short story collection, ''Topics About Which I Know Nothing'', in 2004. Ness's first

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

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

e-books An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

, and have been included in the 2013 UK print editions of the novels. ''A Monster Calls'' originated with the Irish writer,

Siobhan Dowd Siobhan Dowd (4 February 1960 – 21 August 2007) was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, '' Bog Child'', posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book fo ...

. Dowd 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 Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...

, the first time one book has won both medals. On 7 May 2013, Ness was revealed to be the author of ''Tip of the Tongue'', the May e-short featuring the

Fifth Doctor The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from ...

and Nyssa as part Puffin's eleven ''

'' e-shorts in honour of the show's 50th anniversary. His fourth young adult novel, '' More Than This'', was published on 5 September 2013. It later made the Carnegie Medal shortlist of 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 ''

'' spin-off entitled ''

.'' 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. 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 Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

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 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Labour government, which grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom the rights and responsibilities very similar to those in civi ...

came into force. Ness taught creative writing at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and has written and reviewed for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''. He has been a Fellow of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...

, and was the first Writer in Residence for Booktrust.

Awards

The Knife of Never Letting Go ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'' is a young-adult science fiction novel written by British-American author Patrick Ness. It was published by Walker Books on 5 May 2008. It is the first book in the '' Chaos Walking'' series, followed by '' T ...

'' won numerous awards including the

Booktrust Teenage Prize The Booktrust Teenage Prize was an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize was administered by Book Trust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading. The Booktrust Teenage Prize was last awarded in ...

, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and the 2008

Tiptree Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science ...

. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. '' The Ask and the Answer'' won the 2009 Costa Book Award in the children's book category. It, too, made the Carnegie shortlist. '' Monsters of Men'' won the CILIP Carnegie Medal and was shortlisted for the 2011

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

. '' More Than This'' made the Carnegie shortlist. '' The Rest of Us Just Live Here'' received many awards, including six starred reviews and the

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fict ...

Best Book of the Year.

Works

Novels

* *

Novels for young adults

'' Chaos Walking'' series

# ''

'' (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)

Standalone

* * * * (2017) * *

Short stories

* "Different for Boys", collected in ''Losing it'' (2010) * "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 Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of sci ...

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

Notes

References

External links/sources

* * * *
''The Knife Of Never Letting Go'', chapter one

Opening speech by Ness at the children and youth program of the International Literature Festival Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ness, Patrick 1971 births 21st-century American novelists 21st-century British novelists 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century British screenwriters 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century British short story writers People from Fairfax County, Virginia American children's writers American emigrants to England American male novelists British journalists Carnegie Medal in Literature winners American gay writers Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners LGBT journalists from the United Kingdom LGBT journalists from the United States American LGBT novelists LGBT people from Virginia LGBT writers from the United Kingdom Living people Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People from Fort Belvoir, Virginia University of Southern California alumni Writers of young adult science fiction Novelists from Virginia Screenwriters from Virginia 21st-century American male writers