David Mitchell (author)
Encyclopedia
David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist. He has written five novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
, Merseyside
, in England
, raised in Malvern, Worcestershire
, and educated at the University of Kent
, studying for a degree in English
and American Literature
followed by an M.A.
in Comparative Literature
. He lived for a year in Sicily
, then moved to Hiroshima
, Japan
, where he taught English to technical students for eight years, before returning to England, where he could live on his earnings as a writer and support his pregnant wife. After another stint in Japan, he currently lives in Clonakilty
, Ireland, with his wife Keiko and their two children. In an essay for Random House
, Mitchell wrote: "I knew I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid, but until I came to Japan to live in 1994 I was too easily distracted to do much about it. I would probably have become a writer wherever I lived, but would I have become the same writer if I'd spent the last 6 years in London
, or Cape Town
, or Moose Jaw, on an oil rig or in the circus? This is my answer to myself."
Mitchell's first novel, Ghostwritten
(1999), moves around the globe, from Okinawa to Mongolia
to pre-Millennial New York City
, as nine narrators tell stories that interlock and intersect. The novel won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
(for best work of British literature written by an author under 35) and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award
. His two subsequent novels, number9dream
(2001) and Cloud Atlas (2004), were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In 2003, he was selected as one of Granta
’s Best of Young British Novelists. In 2007, Mitchell was listed among Time
magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. Mitchell's American editor at Random House is novelist David Ebershoff
.
Mitchell's sixth novel, as yet untitled, will be about a young girl growing up in an Irish family.
Mitchell has the speech disorder
of stammering and considers the film The King's Speech (2010) to be one of the most accurate portrayals of what it's like to be a stammerer: "I’d probably still be avoiding the subject today had I not outed myself by writing a semi-autobiographical novel, Black Swan Green, narrated by a stammering 13 year old." Mitchell is also a patron of the British Stammering Association
.
Biography
David Mitchell was born in SouthportSouthport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, raised in Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
, and educated at the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
, studying for a degree in English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and American Literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
followed by an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Comparative Literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
. He lived for a year in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, then moved to Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where he taught English to technical students for eight years, before returning to England, where he could live on his earnings as a writer and support his pregnant wife. After another stint in Japan, he currently lives in Clonakilty
Clonakilty
Clonakilty , often referred to by locals simply as Clon, is a small town on the N71 national secondary road in West County Cork, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes away by road to the west of Cork City. The town is on the southern coast of the island, and is surrounded by hilly country devoted...
, Ireland, with his wife Keiko and their two children. In an essay for Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, Mitchell wrote: "I knew I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid, but until I came to Japan to live in 1994 I was too easily distracted to do much about it. I would probably have become a writer wherever I lived, but would I have become the same writer if I'd spent the last 6 years in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, or Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, or Moose Jaw, on an oil rig or in the circus? This is my answer to myself."
Mitchell's first novel, Ghostwritten
Ghostwritten
Ghostwritten is the first novel published by the author David Mitchell. Published in 1999, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was widely acclaimed. The story takes place mainly around East Asia, but also moves through Russia, Britain, the USA and Ireland...
(1999), moves around the globe, from Okinawa to Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
to pre-Millennial New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, as nine narrators tell stories that interlock and intersect. The novel won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom...
(for best work of British literature written by an author under 35) and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award, issued before 1999 as Guardian Fiction Prize or Guardian Fiction Award, is awarded to new writing in fiction and non-fiction.-History:...
. His two subsequent novels, number9dream
Number9dream
number9dream is the second novel by English author David Mitchell.Set in Japan, it narrates the search of 19-year-old Eiji Miyake for his father, whom he has never met....
(2001) and Cloud Atlas (2004), were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In 2003, he was selected as one of Granta
Granta
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers 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 real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
’s Best of Young British Novelists. In 2007, Mitchell was listed among Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. Mitchell's American editor at Random House is novelist David Ebershoff
David Ebershoff
David Ebershoff is an American-born writer, editor, and teacher.-Biography:Born in Pasadena, California, he is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Chicago, and studied at Keio University in Tokyo....
.
Mitchell's sixth novel, as yet untitled, will be about a young girl growing up in an Irish family.
Mitchell has the speech disorder
Speech disorder
Speech disorders or speech impediments are a type of communication disorders where 'normal' speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute.-Classification:...
of stammering and considers the film The King's Speech (2010) to be one of the most accurate portrayals of what it's like to be a stammerer: "I’d probably still be avoiding the subject today had I not outed myself by writing a semi-autobiographical novel, Black Swan Green, narrated by a stammering 13 year old." Mitchell is also a patron of the British Stammering Association
British Stammering Association
The British Stammering Association , a charity since 1978, is a national membership organisation in the United Kingdom for adults and children who stammer...
.
Novels
- GhostwrittenGhostwrittenGhostwritten is the first novel published by the author David Mitchell. Published in 1999, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was widely acclaimed. The story takes place mainly around East Asia, but also moves through Russia, Britain, the USA and Ireland...
, 1999 - number9dreamNumber9dreamnumber9dream is the second novel by English author David Mitchell.Set in Japan, it narrates the search of 19-year-old Eiji Miyake for his father, whom he has never met....
, 2001 - Cloud Atlas, 2004
- Black Swan GreenBlack Swan GreenBlack Swan Green is a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman written by David Mitchell. It was published in April 2006 in the U.S. and May 2006 in the UK. The novel's thirteen chapters each represent one month—from January 1982 through January 1983—in the life of 13-year-old Worcestershire boy Jason...
, 2006 - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de ZoetThe Thousand Autumns of Jacob de ZoetThe Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the fifth novel published by the author David Mitchell. It is a historical novel set during the Dutch trading concession with Japan in the late 18th century...
, 2010
Further reading
- Mitchell, D. (2009): The Massive Rat http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/01/david-mitchell-short-story-rat (Short Story published in "The Guardian" 01/08/2009)
- Mitchell, D. (2009): Character Development http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/02/david-mitchell-character-development (Short Story published in "The Guardian" 02/09/2009, taken from Amnesty International's anthology "Freedom")
- The world begins its turn with you, or how David Mitchell's novels think. Chapter in B. Schoene. The Cosmopolitan Novel. Edinburgh University Press, 2009.
External links
- David Mitchell's official website
- Profile at the official Man Booker PrizeMan Booker PrizeThe Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
site - David Mitchell - How I Write, Untitled Books, May 2010
- "Get Writing: Playing With Structure" by David Mitchell at BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.co - "Character Development" by David Mitchell, a short story from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(2009) - "David Mitchell, the Experimentalist", New York Times Magazine, June 2010
- "The Floating Library: What can't the novelist David Mitchell do?", The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, 5 July 2010 - "David Mitchell: The philosophy of stories and The Wire", 3news.co.nz, 12 August 2011
Short stories
- "Judith Castle", The New York Times, January 2008
- "The Massive Rat", The Guardian, August 2009
- "Character Development", The Guardian, September 2009
- "Muggins Here", The Guardian, August 2010