Adam Thirlwell (born 22 August 1978) is a British novelist. His work has been translated into thirty languages. He has twice been named as one of ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres 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 ma ...

''s Best of Young British Novelists. In 2015 he received the E.M. Forster Award from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. He is the London editor of ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...

''.

Life

Thirlwell was educated at the independent

Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (also known as Haberdashers', Habs, or Habs Boys), until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a Independent school (United Kingdom), public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfo ...

, Elstree. He read English at New College, Oxford, where he got the top first. He was a Prize Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford between 2000 and 2007, and worked as assistant editor at the literary magazine

Areté ''Areté'' was an arts magazine, published three times a year, edited and founded in 1999 by the poet Craig Raine. The magazine aimed to give detailed coverage of theatre, fiction, and poetry, while also serving as a platform for new writing in ...

. He now lives in London. In 2011 he was the S Fischer Guest Professor of Comparative Literature at the

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

. In 2015 he was announced as an Honorary Fellow of the Metaphysical Club at the

Domus Academy Domus Academy is a private school of design in Milan, Italy. It offers post-graduate and professional courses in fashion, industrial design, and design management. It is not listed by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Rice ...

in Milan.

Work

Thirlwell is the author of three novels: ''Politics'' (2003), ''The Escape'' (2009) described by

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

as "a novel where the humour is melancholic, the melancholy mischievous, and the talent startling", and ''Lurid & Cute'' (2015). He is also the author of a project on the novel and translation, which includes a book first published in 2007, which was chosen as a book of the year by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

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 ...

and A. S. Byatt in the

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

; and, as guest editor, ''Multiples'', an anthology of multiple translations for

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

Quarterly. In 2019 he created ''Studio Créole'', a group show with novelists and interpreters, co-curated with

Hans Ulrich Obrist Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...

, which premiered at

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...

in July. An experimental book with unfolding pages called ''Kapow!'', designed by Studio Frith, was published by Visual Editions in 2012. It was nominated for the Design Museum's 2013 Designs of the Year awards and has been included in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. A book with the artist

Philippe Parreno Philippe Parreno (born 1964 in Oran, Algeria) is a contemporary French artist who lives and works in Paris. His works include films, installations, performances, drawings, and text. Parreno focuses on expanding ideas of time and duration thro ...

, ''Conversation'', was published by Serralves Museum in 2017. Thirlwell wrote a short film, ''Everyday Performance Artists'', for Channel 4's Random Acts, directed by

Polly Stenham Polly Stenham (born 16 July 1986) is an English playwright known for her play ''That Face'', which she wrote when she was 19 years old. Background Stenham was born and raised in London. She attributes her love of theatre to her father as he to ...

and starring the voice of

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and ...

, with

Gemma Chan Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is an English actress. Born and raised in London, Chan attended the Newstead Wood School for Girls and studied law at Worcester College, Oxford before choosing to pursue a career in acting instead, enrolling at t ...

, James Norton, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, in 2016. In 2018, he wrote and directed ''Utopia'', starring Lily Cole,

Lily McMenamy Lily Camille McMenamy (born 3 April 1994) is an American-born English model and actress. Early life McMenamy was born in Pennsylvania. Her mother, Kristen McMenamy, was one of the world's top models during the 1990s. Her father, Hubert Bouko ...

and Babirye Bukilwa His writing is published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', and ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...

'', as well as the ''

New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'', and '' The Believer''. He has written columns for ''

'' and '' Esquire''. In May 2015, he was named London editor of the ''

Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...

''.Stein, Lorin
"New on the Masthead: Susannah Hunnewell and Adam Thirlwell
, ''Paris Review'', 20 May 2015. In June 2018 Thirlwell was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in its "40 Under 40" initiative.

Awards

*2003:

"Best of Young British Novelists" *2003: Betty Trask Award, winner, "Politics" *2005: Lire "50 écrivains pour demain" *2008:

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

, winner, "Miss Herbert" *2009:

Encore Award The £10,000 Encore Award for the best second novel was first awarded in 1990. It is sponsored by Lucy Astor. The award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglecte ...

, shortlist, "The Escape" *2013: Granta "Best of Young British Novelists" *2015: E.M. Forster Award, winner

Bibliography

Novels

*''

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

'' (2003) *''Miss Herbert'' (US: ''The Delighted States'') (2007) *''The Escape'' (2009) *''Kapow!'' (2012) *''Lurid & Cute (2015)

Articles

As editor

*''Multiples: 12 Stories in 18 Languages by 61 Authors'', edited by Adam Thirlwell

External links

"Lists, lists, lists..."
article for ''

'' on literary "Best of" lists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thirlwell, Adam Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Alumni of New College, Oxford 21st-century English novelists People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School English Jews British Jewish writers 1978 births Living people English male novelists 21st-century English male writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature