Alex Christofi is a British author and book editor.

Early life

Christofi was born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

to a British mother and Cypriot father, and grew up in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. He was educated at

Bournemouth School Bournemouth School is a boys' grammar school and co-educational sixth form in Charminster, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, for children aged 11 to 18. History The school was founded by Dr. E. Fenwick and opened on 22 January 1901, admitting 54 ...

, where his father was a teacher. He earned a degree in English from

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

Career

Before publishing his first novel, Christofi worked as a literary agent for over five years. In 2015, he published his debut novel ''Glass''. It tells the story of Gunter Glass, a 22-year-old, half-German window cleaner. For ''Glass'', he won the 2016

Betty Trask Prize The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

. In 2017, he published his second novel, ''Let Us Be True'', about a German-born couple falling in love in post-war France. His biography ''Dostoevsky in Love: An Intimate Life'' is due for release in January 2021. In 2015, Christofi was appointed commissioning editor for non-fiction at

Oneworld Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...

, previously working for

Conville and Walsh George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is na ...

. In February 2020, it was announced he would be leaving Oneworld to join

Transworld Publishers Transworld Publishers Ltd. is a British publishing house in Ealing, London that is a division of Penguin Random House, one of the world's largest mass media groups. It was established in 1950 as the British division of American company Bantam ...

's non-fiction team as an editorial director in April of that year.

"Book Murderer" Viral Controversy

In early 2020, Christofi tweeted a photograph of several books cut in half, saying he cuts "long books in half to make them more portable." The tweet subsequently went viral, becoming the subject of several news stories and caused a large amount of conversation on Twitter. He later wrote an editorial for

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

entitled "I am the 'book murderer', but I tear them apart out of love."

Personal life

Christofi currently lives in London.

Published works

*''Glass'' (2015) *''Let Us Be True'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christofi, Alex Literary agents Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford British people of Cypriot descent Writers from Bournemouth People educated at Bournemouth School Businesspeople from Bournemouth