Gerard Woodward Biography
Gerard Woodward (born December 4, 1961 in Enfield, London) is a British novelist, poet and short story writer, best known for his trilogy of novels concerning the troubled Jones family, the second of which, I'll Go to Bed at Noon, was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. As of April 2024, he is a professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University.
Early life and education
Woodward was born in Enfield, London on December 4, 1961 to Reginald L. and Sylvia Woodward (née:Walsh). He had four younger siblings. In 1981, his brother Francis died after being struck by a train while drunk. His mother died shortly after.
Woodward attended St Ignatius College, a Jesuit comprehensive school, leaving at 16 to work for two years in a variety of jobs. He later studied painting at Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall, though dropped out in his second year. Woodward ultimately received a Bachelor of Science Honours in social anthropology from London School of Economics, a Certificate in Education from the University of Greenwich, and a postgraduate diploma in social anthropology from the University of Manchester. In 2019, Woodward received an Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University.
Career
In 1989, Woodward won a Eric Gregory Award for poets under 30. He published his first poetry collection, Householder, in 1991; it won the year's Somerset Maugham Award. His later poetry collections include After the Deafening (1994); Island to Island (1999); We Were Pedestrians (2005); and The Seacunny (2012). In 2001, he published his first novel, August, which was the first in a trilogy, followed by I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004) and A Curious Earth (2007). August was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Award, and I'll Go to Bed at Noon was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Woodward has since published the short story collection Caravan Thieves (2008) and the novels Nourishment (2010) and Vanishing (2014).
Woodward has been a writer-in-residence at Columbia College Chicago (2011) and the University of Stockholm (2013). He has taught or been a writer in residence in many countries including China, Greece, Sweden, Slovenia and Ireland. Since 2004, Woodward has worked in the creative writing department at Bath Spa University; as of April 2024, he runs the Ph.D. programme with Tracy Brain. He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2005.
Awards and honors
In 1989, Woodward won the Eric Gregory Award for poets under age 30. He received an Arts Council England bursary for poetry in 1994 and for fiction in 1999. He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2005.
Householder (1991) and After The Deafening (1994) have been Poetry Book Society Choice books.
Personal life
Woodward met his wife Suzanne Jane Anderson while studying at Falmouth School of Art. He has two children: Corin and Phoebe.
Bibliography
Poetry
- The Unwriter & Other Poems (1989)
- Householder (1991), ISBN:0-7011-3758-4
- After the Deafening (1994), ISBN:0-7011-6271-6
- Island to Island (1999), ISBN:0-7011-6869-2
- We Were Pedestrians (2005), ISBN:0-7011-7887-6
- The Seacunny (2012)
- The Vulture (2022)
Fiction
- August (2001), ISBN:0-7011-7111-1
- I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004), ISBN:0-7011-7118-9
- A Curious Earth (2007)
- Caravan Thieves (short stories; 2008)
- Nourishment (2010; published as Letters from an Unknown Woman in the US)
- Vanishing (2014)
- Legoland (short stories; 2016), ISBN:978-1447288671
- The Paper Lovers (2018)
