Andy Martin is a British author and academic. He is a regular contributor to

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

programmes and sometimes writes for "The Stone" and "Opinionator" columns in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He has also written articles for the web broadcasting service

SBS Broadcasting Group SBS Broadcasting Group (SBS), formerly Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems, was a European multinational media group, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses in Northern, Western and Cen ...

. He scripted and produced the short film "Once Upon a Time in New York" in collaboration with Moving Content and likewise "MML the Movie: Languages at Cambridge", directed by

Will Frears Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

with Norman Lomax. Both films feature original soundtracks by brothers Jack and Spencer Martin. He is the inventor of Becksistentialism ("Existentialism with a very cool haircut"), inspired by

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

's stint at

Paris St Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

in 2013 and featured at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

's Festival of Ideas. His essay "The FBI Files on Being and Nothingness" was published by

Prospect Magazine ''Prospect'' is a monthly British general-interest magazine, specialising in politics, economics and current affairs. Topics covered include British and other European, as well as US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, th ...

and based on a lecture given at the Maison française,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, New York, as part of its centenary celebrations.

Writer

Martin is the author of several books, including ''Beware Invisible Cows'' (described by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspaper as 'a fantastic intellectual voyage, a real eye-opener'), ''Stealing the Wave'' (

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, 2007), ''

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

the Novelist'' (

Polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

, 2001), ''Waiting for Bardot'' (

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1996) and ''Walking on Water'' ( John Murray and Minerva, 1992). ''Walking on Water'', Martin's first book on surfing, rapidly became a cult classic and was short-listed for the

William Hill Sports Book of the Year The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British sports writing award sponsored by bookmaker William Hill. It was first presented in 1989, and was conceived by Graham Sharpe of William Hill, and John Gaustad, founder of the Sport ...

, 1991. ''Stealing the Wave: the epic struggle between

Ken Bradshaw Ken Bradshaw (born October 4, 1952) is an American professional surfer and winner of the 1982 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. Bradshaw was born in Houston, Texas. On January 28, 1998, Bradshaw successfully towed into and rode ...

and

Mark Foo Mark Sheldon Foo was a professional Surfing, surfer who favored big wave surfing. Foo drowned while surfing at Mavericks (location), Mavericks, Half Moon Bay, California, in 1994. Early life Mark Foo was born in Singapore on February 5, 1958, ...

'' was described as "the finest sports book I've ever read" (

Steve Bunce Steve Bunce, nicknamed "Buncey", is a British freelance television and radio sport pundit and newspaper columnist. Career He has regularly appeared as a pundit on the BBC sports programme '' Inside Sport'' and on BBC Radio Five Live's '' Figh ...

, BBC Radio) and an 'Awesome read!' (''

Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'', Australia). ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' newspaper hailed it as a 'terrific book'. Martin was the first surfing correspondent to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London) and had the first ever surfing column in a major newspaper in Britain (''

the Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

''). Martin led a course in

creative non-fiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts ...

at the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, and Patricia Cumper is ...

in November 2009. ''Waiting for Bardot'' was first optioned by

Working Title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

. It is now scheduled to be made into a feature film directed by

, with shooting to begin in the near future. His latest book, published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

in 2012, is ''The Boxer and the Goalkeeper: Sartre vs Camus''. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' describes it as 'an elegant study, ... one of the most accessible and intelligent books on philosophy I have read this year, as alert to the human drama as the intellectual conflict, and unfailingly observant to the nuances and subtexts'.

Academic life

He has been a lecturer in the department of French at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

since 1990. His PhD is from

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, on the subject of the knowledge of

ignorance Ignorance is a lack of knowledge or understanding. Deliberate ignorance is a culturally-induced phenomenon, the study of which is called agnotology. The word "ignorant" is an adjective that describes a person in the state of being unaware, or ...

. He has been an associate research fellow at the

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Center for Historical Analysis and a visiting scholar at

. In 2009 he was awarded a fellowship at the Cullman Centre for Scholars and Writers of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. Martin was interviewed by Cambridge '' Varsity'' in the May Week issue no. 699 and described as 'something of a whispered myth amongst his many students'.

References

External links

* *
Once Upon a Time in New York

MML the Movie

FBI Files on Being and Nothingness

Phenomenology of Ugly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Andy Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British male writers Alumni of King's College, Cambridge