Patrick Ness

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

(born 17 October 1971) is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the '' Chaos Walking'' (2008–2010) trilogy and '' A Monster Calls'' (2011). Ness won the annual Carnegie Medal in 2011 and in 2012, for '' Monsters of Men'' and '' A Monster Calls''. He is one of seven writers to win two Medals, and the second to win consecutively. He wrote the screenplay of the 2016 film adaptation of ''A Monster Calls'', and was the creator and writer of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' spin-off series ''

Class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

''.

Early life

Ness was born near the

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir ( ) is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir (plantation), Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Lord ...

Army base, near

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, where his father was a Sergeant in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. They moved to Hawaii, where he lived until he was six, then spent the next ten years in Washington, before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Ness studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. After graduating, he worked as corporate writer for a cable company. He published his first story in ''

Genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

'' in 1997 and was working on his first novel when he moved to London in 1999.

Career

Ness's

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''The Crash of Hennington'', was published in 2003, and was followed by his

short story collection A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., '' Les Soirées de Médan''). Th ...

, ''Topics About Which I Know Nothing'', in 2004. Ness's first

young adult novel Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

was ''

The Knife of Never Letting Go ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'' is a young adult science fiction novel written by British American author Patrick Ness. It was published by Walker Books on 5 May 2008. It is the first book in the '' Chaos Walking'' series, followed by '' The ...

''. It 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 2008. The book was followed by '' The Ask and the Answer'', and '' Monsters of Men''. Together, the three books make up the '' Chaos Walking'' trilogy. Ness has also written three short stories set in the ''Chaos Walking'' universe; the prequels "The New World" and "The Wide, Wide Sea", and "Snowscape", which is set after the events of ''Monsters of Men''. The short stories are available as free-to-download

ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

, and have been included in the 2013 UK print editions of the novels. ''A Monster Calls'' originated with the Irish writer, Siobhan Dowd, who had been diagnosed with cancer and was unable to complete the story before she died in 2007. Dowd and Ness shared an editor at Walker, Denise Johnstone-Burt, and after Dowd's death, Walker arranged for Ness to complete the story from her notes. Ness says his only guideline was to write a book he thought Dowd would have liked. Jim Kay was hired to illustrate the book, and the two completed the book without meeting. Ness won the Carnegie and Kay won the companion

Kate Greenaway Medal The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (until 2022 the Kate Greenaway Medal) is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Librar ...

, the first time one book has won both medals. Ness was the author of ''Tip of the Tongue'', an e-short featuring the

Fifth Doctor The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord ...

and Nyssa as part Puffin's eleven ''

'' e-shorts in honour of the show's 50th anniversary, released on 23 May 2013. His fourth young adult novel, '' More Than This'', was published on 5 September 2013. It later made the Carnegie Medal shortlist of 2015. ''The Crane Wife'', Ness's third novel for adults, was published on 30 December 2014. In 2014, Ness delivered the keynote speech at the ''Children's and Young Adult Program'' of the Berlin International Literature Festival. ''The Rest of Us Just Live Here'' was published 25 August 2015 in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and 5 October 2015 in Canada and the United States. On 1 October 2015, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

announced that Ness would be writing a ''

'' spin-off entitled ''

.'' The resulting eight-part series aired on BBC Three's online channel toward the end of 2016. The BBC cancelled ''Class'' after one series. ''Release'', was published on 4 May 2017, described by Ness as a "private and intense book" with more personal inspiration than any before it. In June 2021, Ness was said to be preparing a prequel script to the Napoleonic sea adventure movie '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,'' based on the works of

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series. These sea novels are set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and ...

Personal life

Ness was naturalised as a British citizen in 2005. He entered into a civil partnership with his partner in 2006, less than two months after the Civil Partnership Act came into force. In February 2023, Patrick disclosed on Instagram that he had married Nick Coveney in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in October 2022. He also stated that within the previous "4 or 5 years" he had gotten divorced. Ness taught creative writing at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and has written and reviewed for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. He has been a Fellow of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

, and was the first Writer in Residence for BookTrust. In 2023, Ness was elected a Fellow of 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 ...

Awards

''The Rest of Us Just Live Here'' received many awards, including six starred reviews and the ''Kirkus'' Best Book of the Year.

Works

Novels

* *

Novels for young adults

'' Chaos Walking'' series

# ''

'' (2008) # '' The Ask and the Answer'' (2009) # '' Monsters of Men'' (2010) *Short stories *: 1.5. "The New World" (2009) *: 2.5. "The Wide, Wide Sea" (2013) *: 3.5. "Snowscape" (2013)

'' The New World Trilogy''

#'' Piper at the Gates of Dusk'' (Spring 2026)

Standalone

* * * * (2017) * * * * *

Short stories

* "Different for Boys", collected in ''Losing it'' (2010)Review: * "Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue" (2013), collected in ''Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories'' (2019) * "This Whole Demoing Thing", collected in ''Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales'', ed. Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant (2014)

Collections

* ''Topics About Which I Know Nothing'' (2004), collection of 11 short stories: *: "Implied Violence", "The Way All Trends Do", "Ponce de Leon is a Retired Married Couple From Toronto", "Jesus' Elbows and Other Christian Urban Myths", "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?", "Sydney is a City of Jaywalkers", "2,115 Opportunities", "The Motivations of Sally Rae Wentworth, Amazon", "The Seventh International Military War Games Dance Committee Quadrennial Competition and Jamboree", "The Gifted", "Now That You've Died"

Filmography

Notes

References

External links/sources

* * * *
''The Knife Of Never Letting Go'', chapter one

Opening speech by Ness at the children and youth program of the International Literature Festival Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ness, Patrick 1971 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British screenwriters 21st-century British short story writers Academics of the University of Oxford American children's writers American emigrants to England American gay writers American LGBTQ journalists American LGBTQ novelists American male novelists British journalists British LGBTQ journalists British LGBTQ writers Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners LGBTQ people from Virginia Living people Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Novelists from Virginia People from Fairfax County, Virginia People from Fort Belvoir, Virginia Screenwriters from Virginia University of Southern California alumni Writers of young adult science fiction