Mark Haddon
Encyclopedia
Mark Haddon is an English
novelist and poet
, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
.
and educated at Uppingham School
and Merton College, Oxford
, where he studied English language
. Afterward, he was employed in several different occupations. One included working with people and children with disabilities, and another included creating illustrations and cartoons for magazines and newspapers. (Holcombe) He lived in Boston for a year with his wife until they moved back to England. Then, Mark took up painting and selling abstract art. (Random House) Mark had a studio on the ground floor of his house; he thought that it looked like a primary school library on the inside. This is appropriate, however, considering that Haddon’s work is a self-proclaimed “distillation of all that was best about school.” (Haddon)
Another important aspect of Mark Haddon’s life is his work as an author. In 1987, Haddon wrote his first children’s book, Gilbert’s Gobstopper. This was followed by many other children’s books, which were oftentimes self-illustrated.
In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and in 2004, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Best First Book for his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
, a book which is written from the perspective of a boy with Asperger syndrome
. However, Haddon has stated on his website that he knows "very little about the subject", and that he "slightly regret[s]" that the term "Asperger syndrome" appeared on the cover of his book. Moreover, he had done no research about autism before writing the novel. Rather, he recommends that one read works by people who have Asperger syndrome themselves. In an interview at Powells.com, Haddon claimed that this was the first book that he wrote intentionally for an adult audience; he was surprised when his publisher suggested marketing it to both adult and child audiences. His second adult novel, A Spot of Bother
, was published in September 2006.
Mark Haddon is also known for his series of Agent Z
books, one of which, Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars
, was made into a 1996 Children's BBC sitcom. He also wrote the screenplay
for the BBC
television adaptation of Raymond Briggs
's story Fungus the Bogeyman
, screened on BBC1 in 2004. In 2007 he wrote the BBC
television drama Coming Down the Mountain
.
Haddon is a vegetarian, and enjoys vegetarian cookery. He describes himself as a 'hard-line atheist'. In an interview with The Observer
, Haddon said "I am atheist in a very religious mould". His atheism might be inferred from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
in which the main character declares that those who believe in God are stupid.
In 2009, he donated the short story The Island to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales
' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Haddon's story was published in the 'Fire' collection.
In 2010, Orlai Produkciós Iroda made a monodrama
, Nemsenkilény, monológ nemmindegyembereknek ("Notanobodycreature"), from book of Henriett Seth F.. The text book contains details of Donna Williams' s Nobody Nowhere: The extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl few lines, Birger Sellin
' s Don't want to Be Inside Me Anymore: Messages from Autistic Mind few lines and a few lines by Mark Haddon' s: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Mark Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife Dr. Sos Eltis
, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford
, and their two young sons.
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...
novelist and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 novel by British writer Mark Haddon. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book...
.
Life and work
Haddon was born in 1962 in NorthamptonNorthampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
and educated at Uppingham School
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
and Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, where he studied English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Afterward, he was employed in several different occupations. One included working with people and children with disabilities, and another included creating illustrations and cartoons for magazines and newspapers. (Holcombe) He lived in Boston for a year with his wife until they moved back to England. Then, Mark took up painting and selling abstract art. (Random House) Mark had a studio on the ground floor of his house; he thought that it looked like a primary school library on the inside. This is appropriate, however, considering that Haddon’s work is a self-proclaimed “distillation of all that was best about school.” (Haddon)
Another important aspect of Mark Haddon’s life is his work as an author. In 1987, Haddon wrote his first children’s book, Gilbert’s Gobstopper. This was followed by many other children’s books, which were oftentimes self-illustrated.
In 2003, Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and in 2004, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Best First Book for his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 novel by British writer Mark Haddon. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book...
, a book which is written from the perspective of a boy with Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
. However, Haddon has stated on his website that he knows "very little about the subject", and that he "slightly regret[s]" that the term "Asperger syndrome" appeared on the cover of his book. Moreover, he had done no research about autism before writing the novel. Rather, he recommends that one read works by people who have Asperger syndrome themselves. In an interview at Powells.com, Haddon claimed that this was the first book that he wrote intentionally for an adult audience; he was surprised when his publisher suggested marketing it to both adult and child audiences. His second adult novel, A Spot of Bother
A Spot of Bother
A Spot of Bother is the second adult novel by Mark Haddon, who is best known for his prize-winning first novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time...
, was published in September 2006.
Mark Haddon is also known for his series of Agent Z
Agent Z
Agent Z is a fictitious character in a series of four comical children’s books written by British author Mark Haddon, better known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In the first published versions of the books Haddon also did the artwork for the covers and a...
books, one of which, Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars
Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars
Agent Z And The Penguin From Mars was a 1996 Children's BBC sitcom, based on the book of the same name by Mark Haddon.The six episode series followed the exploits of Ben Simpson, played by Duncan Barton, and his friends Barney, played by Andrew McKay, and Jenks, played by Reggie Yates, who together...
, was made into a 1996 Children's BBC sitcom. He also wrote the 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...
for the BBC
BBC
The 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...
television adaptation of Raymond Briggs
Raymond Briggs
Raymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
's story Fungus the Bogeyman
Fungus the Bogeyman
Fungus the Bogeyman is a children's graphic novel by British artist Raymond Briggs. It follows one day in the life of the titular character, a working class Bogeyman with the mundane job of scaring human beings.-Plot:...
, screened on BBC1 in 2004. In 2007 he wrote the BBC
BBC
The 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...
television drama Coming Down the Mountain
Coming Down the Mountain
Coming Down the Mountain is a 2007 British television movie which was shown on BBC One, written by Mark Haddon and directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The television movie was based on a radio play also written by Haddon.-Plot:David and Ben Philips are teenage brothers who live in London. Ben has...
.
Haddon is a vegetarian, and enjoys vegetarian cookery. He describes himself as a 'hard-line atheist'. In an interview with The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, Haddon said "I am atheist in a very religious mould". His atheism might be inferred from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 novel by British writer Mark Haddon. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book...
in which the main character declares that those who believe in God are stupid.
In 2009, he donated the short story The Island to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales
Ox-Tales
Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best known authors. All the authors donated their stories to Oxfam...
' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Haddon's story was published in the 'Fire' collection.
In 2010, Orlai Produkciós Iroda made a monodrama
Monodrama
A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character.- Monodrama in opera :...
, Nemsenkilény, monológ nemmindegyembereknek ("Notanobodycreature"), from book of Henriett Seth F.. The text book contains details of Donna Williams' s Nobody Nowhere: The extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl few lines, Birger Sellin
Birger Sellin
Birger Sellin was the first functionally non-verbal person with autism to become a published author in Germany....
' s Don't want to Be Inside Me Anymore: Messages from Autistic Mind few lines and a few lines by Mark Haddon' s: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Mark Haddon lives in Oxford with his wife Dr. Sos Eltis
Sos Eltis
Dr Sos Eltis is a Fellow and Tutor in English of Brasenose College, Oxford. She is the author of Revising Wilde: Society and Subversion in the plays of Oscar Wilde, which has been described as "a radical re-examination of the plays of Oscar Wilde"...
, a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and their two young sons.
Youth titles
- Gilbert's Gobstopper (1987)
- Mikie Joy
- Toni and the Tomato Soup (1988)
- A Narrow Escape for Princess Sharon (1989)
- Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader (1993)
- Titch Johnson, Almost World Champion (1993)
- Agent Z Goes Wild (1994)
- At Home
- At Playgroup
- In the Garden
- On Holiday
- Gridzbi Spudvetch! (1992)
- The Real Porky Phillips (1994)
- Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars (1995)
- The Sea of Tranquility (1996)
- Secret Agent Handbook
- Agent Z and the Killer Bananas (2001)
- Ocean Star Express (2001)
- The Ice Bear's Cave (2002)
- Boom!Boom! (novel)Boom! is a children's science fiction novel by Mark Haddon published in 2009. It is the revised version of Mark Haddon's Gridzbi Spudvetch!, which was published in 1992.-Plot summary:...
(2009)
For adults
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timeThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timeThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 novel by British writer Mark Haddon. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book...
(2003) - A Spot of BotherA Spot of BotherA Spot of Bother is the second adult novel by Mark Haddon, who is best known for his prize-winning first novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time...
(2006)