Simon Mawer ( ; born 1948, England) is a British author who lives in Italy.

Life and work

Born in 1948 and was educated at Millfield School in Somerset and at

Brasenose College, Oxford 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 mi ...

, Mawer took a degree in Zoology and has worked as a biology teacher for most of his life. He published his first novel, ''Chimera'', (Hamish Hamilton, 1989) at the comparatively late age of forty-one. It won the

McKitterick Prize The McKitterick Prize is a United Kingdom literary prize. It is administered by the Society of Authors. It was endowed by Tom McKitterick, who had been an editor of ''The Political Quarterly'' but had also written a novel which was never publ ...

for a first novel by an author over the age of forty. ''Mendel's Dwarf'' followed three works of modest success and established him as a writer of note on both sides of the Atlantic. '' The New York Times'' described it as a "thematically ambitious and witty novel". Uzo optioned film rights, and then later Barbra Streisand optioned them. The novels ''The Gospel of Judas'' and ''The Fall'' came next, followed by ''Swimming to Ithaca'', a novel partially inspired by his childhood on the island of Cyprus. The non-fiction ''A Place in Italy'' (1992), written in the wake of ''A year in Provence'', followed and recounts the first two years in the Italian village where he lived. He then published another non-fiction book, ''Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics'', published in conjunction with the

Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

of Chicago as a companion volume to the museum's concurrent exhibition of the same name. In 2009, Mawer published '' The Glass Room'', a novel about a modernist villa built in a Czech city. His 2012 book '' The Girl Who Fell from the Sky'' was received positively on both sides of the Atlantic, described as "a professionally crafted and engaging story" and a "skillfully and intelligently executed thriller". In 2015 he published ''Tightrope'', a follow-on novel from ''The Girl Who Fell from the Sky.'' ''Tightrope'' has been described as "...skillful and evocative examination of a mind under stress. Most recently, he wrote ''Prague Spring'' (2018) about Brits living in and travelling through Czechoslovakia during both the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

and subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion.

Personal life

Mawer has lived in Rome since 1977, teaching biology at St. George's British International School in Rome. He is married and has two children.

Bibliography

* ''Chimera'' (1989) * ''A Place in Italy'' (1992) (Nonfiction) * ''The Bitter Cross'' (1992) * ''A Jealous God'' (1996) * ''Mendel's Dwarf'' (1997) * ''The Gospel of Judas'' (2000) * ''The Fall'' (2003) * ''Swimming to Ithaca'' (2006) * ''Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics'' (2006) (Nonfiction) * '' The Glass Room'' (2009) * '' The Girl Who Fell from the Sky'', published in the United States by Other Press as ''Trapeze'' (2012) * ''Tightrope ''(2015) * ''Prague Spring'' (2018) * ''Ancestry'' (2022)

Awards and honors

*1990

for first novels, ''Chimera'' *2003 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, ''The Fall'' *2003

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

, longlist, ''The Fall'' *2009

, shortlist, ''The Glass Room'' *2010 Walter Scott Prize, shortlist, ''The Glass Room'' *2016 Walter Scott Prize, winner, ''Tightrope''

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mawer, Simon Living people 1948 births Boardman Tasker Prize winners 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists British science writers People educated at Millfield Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford British male novelists 20th-century British male writers 21st-century British male writers Walter Scott Prize winners