Stephen Clarke (writer)
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Stephen Clarke (born 15 October 1958) is a British author. He writes mainly about France. He published six
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 featuring a British protagonist named Paul West.


Career

Before writing books, Clarke wrote comedy sketches for
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and comic-book stories for the U.S. cartoonist and comics artist Gilbert Shelton. Having graduated from
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he spent several years working in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
as a bilingual
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...
for the dictionary firm
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. He then moved to work for a French press group.


Works

On 1 April 2004 Clarke successfully self-published '' A Year in the Merde''. It attracted attention in France as well. Later Clarke sold the rights to Transworld in the UK,
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...
PLC in the United States,
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in Canada and
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in Australia. It was eventually published in altogether about 20 languages. The sequel '' Merde Actually'' appeared in 2005, and was followed by a non-fiction book ('' Talk to the Snail'', a humorous guide to the
French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...
and the French) in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
. The third novel about Paul West was published in July 2007 in Great Britain and one year later in the USA: '' Merde Happens'', This time Englishman Paul West explores the United States instead of France. Clarke's fourth novel ''Dial M for Merde'' played again in France (this time
South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...
) and was published in the UK on 10 September 2008. The fifth novel ''The Merde Factor'' about Paul West returning to Paris was published on 13 September 2012. Stephen Clarke's second non-fiction offering, ''1000 Years of Annoying the French'', was published in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2010. It concentrates on conflicts between the French and the English over the past ten centuries, In Amazon.co.uk's bestseller lists, at one point the book was simultaneously at number 4 in the history chart and number one in humour.


Bibliography


Fiction

''The 'Merde' Series'' *'' A Year in the Merde'' European Countries (2004) *'' Merde Actually'' (2005) - Known as '' In the Merde for Love'' in the USA. *'' Merde Happens'' A roadtrip across Americas (2007) *'' Dial M for Merde'' Based in the South of France (2008) *'' The Merde Factor'' Paul West's Parisian update (2012) *'' Merde in Europe'' Paul West's is One Brit in Brussels (2016) *'' Merde at the Paris Olympics'' (2023) ''Stand-alone'' *''A Brief History of the Future'' (2011) ''What if teleportation was really possible? Englishman Richie Fisher is about to find out...''


Non-fiction

*'' Talk to the Snail'' (2006) An ironical survival guide to the French way of life. *'' 1000 Years of Annoying the French'' (2010) A satirical version of British-French history. *'' Paris Revealed - The Secret Life of a City'' (2011) A behind the scenes look of Paris. *'' Dirty Bertie: An English King Made in France'' (2014) A biography of Edward VII *'' How the French Won Waterloo (or think they did)'' (2016) A look at the French attitude to Waterloo *'' The French Revolution and What Went Wrong'' (2018) *''I Did It My Ways: An 86-year-old stand-up comedian's lifelong journey from prudish Bostonian to scandalous Parisienne, and beyond'' (2021, with D'yan Forest)


References


External links


Stephen Clarke's official website


''
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 ...
'' (29 June 2004). The first newspaper article about Stephen in the British national press.
Stephen Clarke Interview: 1,000 years of annoying the French

Stephen Clarke Interview: Paris Revealed - The Secret Life of a City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Stephen 1958 births Living people British male journalists 21st-century British novelists British emigrants to France British male novelists 21st-century British male writers