Michael Collins (Irish author)
Encyclopedia
Michael Collins is an Irish
novelist and also an international ultra-distance
runner
. He is a current member of the Irish National Team for the 100k distance (62.2 miles)and holds the Irish national masters record over the 100k distance. As captain of the Irish National Team in 2010 he won a bronze medal at the World 100k Championships held in Gibraltar, and led home all Irish athletes.
Collins grew up in Limerick
, Ireland
and attended St Munchin's Boarding School
in Limerick, known for producing talented distance runners. In 1981 while attending high school in New York (Rye High School), he won The New York State Cross Country Title and competed in the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile.
Collins is a distant relative of the Irish patriot Michael Collins
. In 1983 he was awarded an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame
, where he earned his undergraduate degree and a Masters of Fine Arts. He then earned a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago
1997 with an emphasis in computer-aided technologies where he worked on some of the first generation online applications that eventually morphed into the Netscape browser. While doing his doctorate he wrote the New York Times notable book of the year, The Meat Eaters (English title), The Man Who Dreamt of Lobsters (American title). Given the critical reception of these stories of Irish life, Collins began a dual interest in creative writing and computer programming, drifting between the two disciplines ever since.
After graduate school, Collins worked as a programmer writer at Microsoft
at its Redmond headquarters. He specialized in business applications. While at Microsoft he continued his creative writing, often writing late at night in his office with pen and paper so the manuscript would not be found on his computer. His short-listed Booker Prize novel, The Keepers of Truth was written during this time as Collins continued to try and remain true to his two passions.
During this time, Collins also returned to running and found international form again as he began competing in extreme races. In November 1999, after completing The Keepers of Truth, and slogging out 100 mile training weeks, aside from programming and writing, he won The 100 mile Himalayan Stage Race and also The Mount Evererst Challenge Marathon. Said Collins, "It was a year of extremes. There were so many things I wanted to do. Most of all the drive came from a 1995 stabbing attack where I was left for dead on the streets of Chicago after a drug addict attacked me. Even now, almost 25 years later, if the going gets tough, I think about what if I had died on that summer evening in 1995? I think we need life-altering experiences to give us direction, to keep us wanting to all that we can while alive."
Collins is the author of nine works of fiction, including novels and short stories which have been translated into twenty languages.
His work has garnered numerous awards, including Irish Novel of the Year, along with being shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize
and Impac Prize
, and his work has been twice selected for inclusion in the New York Times Notable Books of the Year. His novel, The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton was selected as the Breakout Novel of the Year in France in 2007.
In 2010, in reaction to his eldest daughter's illness, Collins released a dark and metaphysical novel titled, Midnight in a Perfect Life. Damningly criticized by much of the media, this novel of intellectual and spirtual crisis was something Collins needed to write. "I abandoned the pat formula of crime fiction that had steered some of my earlier work and sought to write an open-ended novel of questions. I knew the perils of writing something dark and unconventional. I felt more like a writer while engaged in the novel than any of my previous work. Unfortunately, my US publisher did not see it that way, so we parted. I understood the deeply personal connection to the subject matter was going to be potentially alienating to readers, but sometimes you write for yourself. The novel came out as Midnight in a Perfect Life in England, but I had wanted it to be called, "Of Uncertain Significane", a title I felt might have served as a better guide for how to read the book."
France proved Collins' salvation, as it has over his writing career, and in 2011 he received the prestigous Lucien Barriere Literary Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival for "Midnight in a Perfect Life". The award honors the best American Fiction for 2011. Currently, the novel is being adapted for the big screen. Says Collins, "It was a personal vindication for me to have found a jury of my peers who saw exactly what I was trying to achieve in the novel. That one of the judges, Gonzague Saint Bris, lives in the home that Leonardo Da Vinci lived out the last three years of his life suggested to me that the yardstick of critical judgement must extend beyond conventional confides, that risk-takers are eventually rewarded if only posthumously... I know the novel succeeded in what I wanted it to do. That is all a writer can demand of oneself."
Currently, Collins is writing "The Solitude of Lot" a post-Apocalyptic novel that looks deep into the death of the Information Age after a series of nuclear and cyber attacks end the grand experiment of capitalism, globalization and the Internet. It draws upon his personal experience having worked at The University of Illinois as Netscape was developed and on through his experiences at Microsoft in the mid-to-late 1990s.
.
Lost Souls is currently being adapted
by A Film Monkey Production.
A screenplay
Collins adapted for director
, Erick Zonka, titled, Julia is in post-production
and stars Tilda Swinton
.
In recognition of the help he received during his early years, Collins sponsors numourous writing
prize
s. This year he sponsored The Dowagiac Writing Prize, awarding high-schoolers in three categories, fiction
, poetry
and photography
. He also sponsored The Brisbane
Writers' High-School Prize, again awarding prizes for fiction, poetry and photography. The emphasis, or theme for these prizes focuses on "home" or "place".
and ultra-marathon distance at the South
and North Pole
, on Mount Everest
and Sahara
desert. In 2007, he finished 5th at the USA (USATF) 50 Mile Trail National Championships, and was the USA Masters National Champion Runner-Up. In 2010 he won a bronze medal at the World 100k Championships held in Gibraltar.
Collins' endurance and extreme running races have also centered on humanitarian awareness, raising money for various causes and charities as he participates in these extreme events
.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
novelist and also an international ultra-distance
Ultramarathon
An ultramarathon is any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of .There are two types of ultramarathon events: those that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during specified time...
runner
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
. He is a current member of the Irish National Team for the 100k distance (62.2 miles)and holds the Irish national masters record over the 100k distance. As captain of the Irish National Team in 2010 he won a bronze medal at the World 100k Championships held in Gibraltar, and led home all Irish athletes.
Collins grew up in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and attended St Munchin's Boarding School
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Limerick, known for producing talented distance runners. In 1981 while attending high school in New York (Rye High School), he won The New York State Cross Country Title and competed in the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile.
Collins is a distant relative of the Irish patriot Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
. In 1983 he was awarded an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, where he earned his undergraduate degree and a Masters of Fine Arts. He then earned a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
1997 with an emphasis in computer-aided technologies where he worked on some of the first generation online applications that eventually morphed into the Netscape browser. While doing his doctorate he wrote the New York Times notable book of the year, The Meat Eaters (English title), The Man Who Dreamt of Lobsters (American title). Given the critical reception of these stories of Irish life, Collins began a dual interest in creative writing and computer programming, drifting between the two disciplines ever since.
After graduate school, Collins worked as a programmer writer at Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
at its Redmond headquarters. He specialized in business applications. While at Microsoft he continued his creative writing, often writing late at night in his office with pen and paper so the manuscript would not be found on his computer. His short-listed Booker Prize novel, The Keepers of Truth was written during this time as Collins continued to try and remain true to his two passions.
During this time, Collins also returned to running and found international form again as he began competing in extreme races. In November 1999, after completing The Keepers of Truth, and slogging out 100 mile training weeks, aside from programming and writing, he won The 100 mile Himalayan Stage Race and also The Mount Evererst Challenge Marathon. Said Collins, "It was a year of extremes. There were so many things I wanted to do. Most of all the drive came from a 1995 stabbing attack where I was left for dead on the streets of Chicago after a drug addict attacked me. Even now, almost 25 years later, if the going gets tough, I think about what if I had died on that summer evening in 1995? I think we need life-altering experiences to give us direction, to keep us wanting to all that we can while alive."
Collins is the author of nine works of fiction, including novels and short stories which have been translated into twenty languages.
His work has garnered numerous awards, including Irish Novel of the Year, along with being shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The 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...
and Impac Prize
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...
, and his work has been twice selected for inclusion in the New York Times Notable Books of the Year. His novel, The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton was selected as the Breakout Novel of the Year in France in 2007.
In 2010, in reaction to his eldest daughter's illness, Collins released a dark and metaphysical novel titled, Midnight in a Perfect Life. Damningly criticized by much of the media, this novel of intellectual and spirtual crisis was something Collins needed to write. "I abandoned the pat formula of crime fiction that had steered some of my earlier work and sought to write an open-ended novel of questions. I knew the perils of writing something dark and unconventional. I felt more like a writer while engaged in the novel than any of my previous work. Unfortunately, my US publisher did not see it that way, so we parted. I understood the deeply personal connection to the subject matter was going to be potentially alienating to readers, but sometimes you write for yourself. The novel came out as Midnight in a Perfect Life in England, but I had wanted it to be called, "Of Uncertain Significane", a title I felt might have served as a better guide for how to read the book."
France proved Collins' salvation, as it has over his writing career, and in 2011 he received the prestigous Lucien Barriere Literary Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival for "Midnight in a Perfect Life". The award honors the best American Fiction for 2011. Currently, the novel is being adapted for the big screen. Says Collins, "It was a personal vindication for me to have found a jury of my peers who saw exactly what I was trying to achieve in the novel. That one of the judges, Gonzague Saint Bris, lives in the home that Leonardo Da Vinci lived out the last three years of his life suggested to me that the yardstick of critical judgement must extend beyond conventional confides, that risk-takers are eventually rewarded if only posthumously... I know the novel succeeded in what I wanted it to do. That is all a writer can demand of oneself."
Currently, Collins is writing "The Solitude of Lot" a post-Apocalyptic novel that looks deep into the death of the Information Age after a series of nuclear and cyber attacks end the grand experiment of capitalism, globalization and the Internet. It draws upon his personal experience having worked at The University of Illinois as Netscape was developed and on through his experiences at Microsoft in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Works
- The Meat Eaters (short stories, also published as The Man who Dreamt of Lobsters), 1992
- The Life and Times of a Teaboy, 1993
- The Feminists Go Swimming, 1994
- Emerald Underground, 1998
- The Keepers of TruthThe Keepers of TruthThe Keepers of the Truth is a novel by Michael Collins, first published in 2000. Set in the late 1970s, the story follows the main character Bill and his attempt to unravel a murder-mystery as a cub reporter for a local newspaper in a small Midwest industrial town.The novel won the Kerry...
, 2000 - The Resurrectionists, 2003
- Lost Souls, 2004
- Death of a Writer (British title: The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton), 2006
- Midnight in a Perfect Life (British title), 2010
Film
Current adaptations of his novels include The Resurrectionists to be directed by John MaddenJohn Madden (director)
John Philip Madden is an English director of theatre, film, television, and radio.- Biography :Madden was educated at Clifton College. He was in the same house as friend and fellow director Roger Michell. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from the University of...
.
Lost Souls is currently being adapted
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
by A Film Monkey Production.
A screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
Collins adapted for director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, Erick Zonka, titled, Julia is in post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
and stars Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
.
In recognition of the help he received during his early years, Collins sponsors numourous writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
prize
Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...
s. This year he sponsored The Dowagiac Writing Prize, awarding high-schoolers in three categories, fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
. He also sponsored The Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
Writers' High-School Prize, again awarding prizes for fiction, poetry and photography. The emphasis, or theme for these prizes focuses on "home" or "place".
Athletic achievement
Collins has raced the marathonMarathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
and ultra-marathon distance at the South
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
and North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
, on Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
and Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
desert. In 2007, he finished 5th at the USA (USATF) 50 Mile Trail National Championships, and was the USA Masters National Champion Runner-Up. In 2010 he won a bronze medal at the World 100k Championships held in Gibraltar.
Collins' endurance and extreme running races have also centered on humanitarian awareness, raising money for various causes and charities as he participates in these extreme events
Extreme sport
An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
.