Naeem Murr (born March 1965) is a British-born novelist and short story writer of Lebanese descent. He is the author of three

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s acclaimed for their dark portraiture and stark, original prose. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife, poet Averill Curd

Biography

Born in London, Murr moved to the United States in his early twenties and has been a writer-in-residence at numerous universities, including Western Michigan University, the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and was a

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Creative Writing Fellow. His first novel, ''The Boy'', concerns a father's search for a strange orphan he adopted into his family who has fled to live in a slum as a prostitute. It was a

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 ...

Notable Book. A second novel, ''The Genius of the Sea'', explores the fears and failures of a social-worker coming to terms with his life by talking with a man who now occupies his dead mother's apartment. His most recent book ''The Perfect Man'' was published in 2007 to critical acclaim. The novel was awarded The Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Best Book of Europe/South Asia, and was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Set in the 1950s, ''The Perfect Man'' details the life of an unwanted boy sent first from India to London, and then to small-town

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and the complex web of relationships he develops as he matures. Murr has received many awards for his writing, including a Lambda Literary Award, a Lannan Residency Fellowship, a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, a PEN Open Book Award and a Stegner Fellowship.

Bibliography

*''The Boy'' (1998) *''The Genius of the Sea'' (2003) *''The Perfect Man'' (2007) (UK publication in 2006)

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murr, Naeem 21st-century English novelists Living people University of Missouri faculty British people of Lebanese descent 1965 births Lambda Literary Award winners English male novelists 21st-century English male writers