Joe Dunthorne (born 14 January 1982) is a Welsh novelist, poet and journalist. He made his name with his novel ''

Submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

'' (2008), made into a film in 2010. His second novel, ''Wild Abandon'' (2011), won the RSL Encore Award. A selection of his poems was published in 2010 in the '' Faber New Poets'' series. He published first solo collection of poems, titled ''O Positive'', in 2019.

Education

Joseph Oliver Dunthorne was born in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 14 January 1982. He has two sisters, Anna and Leah. Dunthorne was educated at Olchfa School, Swansea before going on to study Creative Writing at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(UEA). He received BA and MA degrees in Creative Writing from UEA. In the final year of his BA course, he began writing his debut novel ''

''. While studying for his MA at UEA, he won the university's inaugural Curtis Brown Prize for ''Submarine''.

Career

Dunthorne's first novel ''Submarine'', in which a teenager records with comedy and anguish his relationship with his girlfriend and his lop-sided view of the strains on his parents' marriage, was published by

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

imprint

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...

to critical acclaim in 2008. Shortly afterwards, the novel was made into a film, directed by

Richard Ayoade Richard Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 Br ...

and starring Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige,

Noah Taylor Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British born Australian actor. The accolades he has received include nominations for three Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Award, and four AACTA Awards. He is best known for his ...

Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and musician. He is known for playing antiheros in independent films. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard British ...

, and

Sally Hawkins Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress of stage and screen. She began her career on stage and then moved into film, for which she has received several accolades including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominatio ...

. The film premiered at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival, and was shown in London, Berlin and Swansea before going on general release in March 2011. In 2010, a selection of Dunthorne's poetry was published as part of the ''Faber New Poets'' pamphlet series. Publication in the ''Faber New Poets'' series is open to poets who have yet to publish a first collection. The scheme also offers mentoring and financial support. In 2019, Dunthorne published his first collection of poetry, ''O Positive''. Dunthorne's second novel, ''Wild Abandon'', was published by Penguin in 2011. An account of a brother and sister living in a rural commune, it went on to win the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

's Encore Award for Best Second Novel. In 2019, Dunthorne published his first collection of poetry, ''O Positive''. In 2025, Dunthorne released his first non-fiction book ''Children of Radium'', in which he traces back the history of his great-grandfather, Siegfried Merzbacher, a German-Jewish chemist who developed radioactive toothpaste and later contributed to chemical weapons research in Nazi Germany. In examining his great-grandfather's 2000-page unpublished memoir and conducting international research, Dunthorne's book explores themes of historical truth, moral ambiguity, and the complexities of family legacy.

Personal life

Dunthorne lives in London.

Publications

Fiction

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Non-fiction

Poetry

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Other media

Film

Radio

References

External links

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Profile
at British Counsil 1982 births Living people 21st-century Welsh novelists 21st-century Welsh poets 21st-century British male writers 21st-century Welsh writers Date of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of East Anglia British male novelists British male poets People educated at Olchfa School Writers from Swansea {{UK-novelist-stub