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.

Life, work and studies

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. Despite being categorized as an adult book for some awards, Haddon also won the

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for Children's literature, children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conf ...

in 2003 for the book. The book was also long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize. It was adapted as a stage play and was successful for a long run. ''The Curious Incident'' is written from the perspective of a 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).Dave (10 October 2006)
"The curiously irresistible literary debut of Mark Haddon"
''Powells.com''. Retrieved 31 August 2011. However, it has also been criticised by some autistic readers who objected to its 'depressing' depiction of Christopher, the autistic protagonist. Haddon's short story "The Pier Falls" was longlisted for the 2015

Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award The Sunday Times Short Story Award, also known as the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and later the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, was a British literary award for a single short story open to any novelist or short story writer from ...

, the richest prize in the world for a single short story. He published a collection of short stories inspired by classical mythology called ''Dogs and Monsters'' in 2024. In 2023, he turned down an OBE for his services to literature, saying: 'I would feel uneasy accepting an honour which presumes an uncritical acceptance of the British Empire as a good thing.'

Personal life

Haddon is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. He describes himself as a "hard-line

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

". In 2019, he had heart bypass surgery. Later he contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and, as he recovered, was diagnosed with

long COVID Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

. He has struggled with "brain fog" that left him unable to read or write. In 2024 he spoke to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' about his five-year-long process of partial recovery, saying that although he still could not read properly, the fog was "starting to thin a little". Haddon lives in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

with his wife Sos Eltis, a Fellow of

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

, Oxford, and their two sons.

Works

For children

*''Gilbert's Gobstopper'' (1987) *''Toni and the Tomato Soup'' (1988) *''A Narrow Escape for Princess Sharon'' (1989) *'' Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader'' (1993) *''Titch Johnson, Almost World Champion'' (1993) *'' Agent Z Goes Wild'' (1994) **''At Home'' **''At Playgroup'' **''In the Garden'' **''On Holiday'' *'' Gridzbi Spudvetch!'' (1992) *''The Real Porky Philips'' (1994) *'' Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars'' (1995) *''The Sea of Tranquility'' (1996) *''Secret Agent Handbook'' *'' Agent Z and the Killer Bananas'' (2001) *'' Ocean Star Express'' (2001) *'' The Ice Bear's Cave'' (2002) *'' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003) *'' Boom! (An improved version of Gridzbi Spudvetch)'' (2009)

For adults

*'' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003) *'' A Spot of Bother'' (2006) *'' The Red House'' (2012) *'' The Pier Falls'' (2016) *''

The Porpoise ''The Porpoise'' is a novel by English author Mark Haddon published in 2019, best known for his first novel '' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize. Plot introduction The story begin ...

'' (2019) *''Social Distance'' (graphic short story, 2020) *''Dogs and Monsters'' (2024)

Poetry

* '' The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea 2007''

Play

*''

Polar Bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivo ...

'' (2010)

References

External links

* * *
Mark Haddon
discussed the rituals and processes that guides his work.

(official)
''A Spot of Bother''
(official)

* Freeman, Hadley
"Novelist Mark Haddon talks to Hadley Freeman"
''

'' (London), 29 May 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2011. * Haddon, Mark
"Writers' rooms: Mark Haddon"
''The Guardian'' (London), 29 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Haddon, Mark 1962 births Living people 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists Alumni of Merton College, Oxford English republicans Costa Book Award winners English atheists English children's writers English male novelists English male screenwriters English screenwriters Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners New Statesman people People educated at Uppingham School People from Northampton O. Henry Award winners