Toby Litt (born 1968) is an English writer and academic based at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

Life

Litt was born in

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

, England, in 1968. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

, read English at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

and studied Creative Writing at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

, where he was taught by

Malcolm Bradbury Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic. Life Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 wit ...

Career

A short story by Litt was included in the anthology ''All Hail the New Puritans'' (2000), edited by Matt Thorne and Nicholas Blincoe, and he has edited '' The Outcry'' (2001),

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

's last completed novel, for Penguin in the UK. In 2003 he was nominated by ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'' magazine as one of the 20 " Best of Young British Novelists", although his work since then has met with mixed reviews, one reviewer in ''

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 ...

'' writing that his novel ''I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay'' "goes on ... and on, and on. There is plenty of story here, but little plot, and no tension." Litt edited the 13th edition of ''New Writing'' (the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

's annual anthology of the finest contemporary writing in fiction, non-fiction and poetry) and is known for naming his books in alphabetical order. Litt wrote an interactive short story, using

LiveJournal LiveJournal (), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as a way of keeping his high school ...

and Twitter, as part of the

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

'' We Tell Stories'' project. He is currently a lecturer in Creative Writing at

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

, and led the campaign to get Arvind Mehrotra elected as the Oxford Professor of Poetry following

Ruth Padel Ruth Sophia Padel FRSL FZS (born 8 May 1946) is a British poet, novelist and non-fiction author. Life She studied Greek at Oxford, where she sang in Schola Cantorum of Oxford, wrote a PhD on ancient Greek poetry, and was a Research Fellow at W ...

's resignation. In 2011, he took part in the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

's ''

Sixty-Six Books ''Sixty-Six Books'' was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible ...

'' project, for which he wrote a piece based upon a book of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

. Litt 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 ...

in 2023.

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''Adventures in Capitalism'' (collection of short stories, 1996, ) * ''

Beatniks Beatniks were members of a social movement in the mid-20th century, who subscribed to an anti- materialistic lifestyle. They rejected the conformity and consumerism of mainstream American culture and expressed themselves through various forms ...

'' (1997, ) * ''

Corpsing In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition) and film, breaking character occurs when an actor fails to maintain the illusion that they are the character they are supposedly portraying. This is considered unprofessional while ...

'' (2000, ) * '' deadkidsongs'' (2001, ) * ''Exhibitionism'' (collection of short stories, 2002, ) * '' Finding Myself'' (2003, ) * ''Ghost Story'' (2004, ) * ''

Hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

'', (2007, ) * ''I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay'' (2008, ) * '' Journey into Space'' (2009, ) * ''King Death'' (2010, ) * ''Lilian's Spell Book'' (2013, ) * ''Life-Like'' (2014, ) * ''Monster'' (in ''The Book of Other People'', ed.

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...

, 2007) * ''Notes For A Young Gentleman'' (2018, ) * ''O (short stories - exists)'' * ''Patience'' (2019, )

Comic books

* ''

Dead Boy Detectives The Dead Boy Detectives are a fictional supernatural detective duo who have appeared in comic books published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. They were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III in '' The Sandman ...

'' (2014)

Non-fiction

*''Wrestliana'' (2018, )

References

External links

*
MySpace: Toby Litt

* * Birkbeck, School of English & Humanitie
Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing — Birkbeck, University of London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Litt, Toby 1968 births Living people 21st-century English short story writers 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Alumni of the University of East Anglia Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford English male novelists English male short story writers English short story writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Bedford Modern School People from Ampthill People from Bedford