Chris Cleave (born 1973) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

writer and journalist.

Biography

Cleave was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on May 14, 1973, brought up in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, and educated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

where he studied psychology. He lives in the United Kingdom with his French wife and three children.

Writing

Cleave's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

'' Incendiary'' was published in twenty countries and has been adapted into a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

starring Michelle Williams and

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

. The novel won a 2006

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 ...

and was shortlisted for the 2006

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

. The audio book version was read by Australian actor,

Susan Lyons Susan Lyons (born 1958, Sydney) is an Australian actress. Her television appearances include: ''A Country Practice'', ''Police Rescue'', ''Murder Call'', ''Farscape'', '' Something in the Air'' and '' All Saints''. Her film appearances inclu ...

His second novel, '' The Other Hand'', was released in August 2008 and was described as "A powerful piece of art... shocking, exciting and deeply affecting... superb" by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. It has been shortlisted for the 2008

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

in the Novel category. Cleave was inspired to write ''The Other Hand'' from his childhood in West Africa. It was released in the US and Canada in January 2009 under the title ''Little Bee''. Gold, his third novel, was called "bold and brave" by ''The Observer''. Cleave is a columnist for The Guardian newspaper in London. From 2008 until 2010 he wrote a column 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 "Down with the kids".

Novels

* '' Incendiary'' (2005) * '' The Other Hand'' (UK title, Sceptre, August 2008), published as ''Little Bee'' in the United States and Canada. * ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'' (June 2012) * ''Everyone Brave Is Forgiven'' (April 2016)

Short stories

* "Quiet Time" * "Fresh Water" * "Oyster" ''3:AM London, New York, Paris'' (anthology) (Social Disease, 2008)

References

External links

*
Guardian columnsInterview with the Irish Tribune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleave, Chris 1973 births Living people Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford 21st-century English novelists Postmodern writers People educated at Dr Challoner's Grammar School English male novelists 21st-century English male writers