Matthew "Matt" Thorne (born 1974) is an English novelist, writer, and journalist.
Life and career
Thorne grew up in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, England, and was educated at
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...
. Thorne's first book, ''Tourist'', was published in 1998. The book is an attack on the negative effects of tourism on
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...
, an English seaside town near Bristol. His second book ''Eight Minutes Idle'', which drew on Thorne's experiences of having worked in a call centre, was published in 1999 and won an
Encore Award
The £15,000 Encore Award for the best second novel was first awarded in 1990. It is sponsored by Lucy Astor, presented by the Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King Ge ...
. Thorne's 2004 novel, ''Cherry'', was longlisted for the
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
. He is now married to Lesley Thorne and they have two sons, Luke and Tom.
Thorne is a regular book reviewer for national newspapers, has written screenplays and plays for radio, and a trilogy of books for young adults, the ''39 Castles'' series, which chronicles the adventures of a group of high-spirited children. These novels create an imaginary England of the future where the modern day world has collapsed and where society has reverted to earlier ways, resembling
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
England. The world of these novels is similar to the England imagined by
Richard Jefferies
John Richard Jefferies (6 November 1848 – 14 August 1887) was an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influ ...
in his novel ''After London'', to which Thorne alludes in the final book of the trilogy, ''The White Castle''. In 2000, Thorne and his fellow novelist
Nicholas Blincoe co-founded a minor literary movement, the
New Puritans, whose
Dogme-style manifesto pledged to bring simplicity and relevance back to contemporary British fiction. He is currently a writer-in-residence for the charity
First Story
First Story is an English charity that encourages children and young people to write creatively, outside the curriculum, for self-expression and pleasure. Its aim is to empower children and young people from low-income communities to find and dev ...
.
In 2012, he published ''Prince'' on the artist of the same name. In 2014, a film adaptation of ''
8 Minutes Idle
8 Minutes Idle is an independent British film released in 2014 based on the book ''Eight Minutes Idle'' by Matt Thorne. It is billed as an offbeat Comedy drama where a young man is thrown out of his home and sleeps in the office of his call-centr ...
'' was released by BBC Films.
Thorne is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.
References
External links
*
Interview with 3:AM*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Matt
1974 births
Living people
20th-century English novelists
Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Date of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
English male novelists
20th-century English male writers