David Stephen Mitchell (born 12 January 1969) is an English novelist, television writer, and screenwriter. He has written nine novels, two of which, '' number9dream'' (2001) and '' Cloud Atlas'' (2004), were shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

. He has also written articles for several newspapers, most notably for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', and translated books about

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

from Japanese to English.

Early life

Mitchell was born in Southport in Lancashire (now

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

), England, and raised in Malvern, Worcestershire. He was educated at Hanley Castle High School and at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, where he obtained a degree in English and American Literature followed by an M.A. in

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

. Mitchell lived in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

for a year, then moved to Hiroshima, Japan, where he taught English to technical students for eight years, before returning to England, where he could live on his earnings as a writer and support his pregnant wife.

Work

Mitchell's first novel, '' Ghostwritten'' (1999), takes place in locations ranging from

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in Japan to

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

to pre-Millennial New York City, as nine narrators tell stories that interlock and intersect. It won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (for best work of British literature written by an author under 35) and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His two subsequent novels, '' number9dream'' (2001) and '' Cloud Atlas'' (2004), were both shortlisted for the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

. In 2003, he was selected 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 2007, Mitchell was listed among ''Time'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. In 2012, his metafictional novel '' Cloud Atlas'' (again, with multiple narrators), was made into a feature film. One segment of ''number9dream'' was made into a BAFTA-nominated short film in 2013 starring Martin Freeman, titled '' The Voorman Problem''. In recent years he has also written opera libretti. ''Wake'', based on the 2000 Enschede fireworks disaster and with music by Klaas de Vries, was performed by the Dutch Nationale Reisopera in 2010. He has also finished another opera, ''Sunken Garden'', with the Dutch composer Michel van der Aa, which premiered in 2013 by the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in Englis ...

. Several of Mitchell's book covers were created by design duo Kai and Sunny. Mitchell has also collaborated with the duo, by contributing two short stories to their art exhibits in 2011 and 2014. Mitchell's sixth novel, '' The Bone Clocks'', was published on 2 September 2014. In an interview in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'', Mitchell said that the novel has "dollops of the fantastic in it", and is about "stuff between life and death". ''The Bone Clocks'' was longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Mitchell was the second author to contribute to the Future Library project and delivered his book ''From Me Flows What You Call Time'' on 28 May 2016. '' Utopia Avenue'', Mitchell's ninth novel, was published by Hodder & Stoughton on 14 July 2020. Utopia Avenue tells the “unexpurgated story” of a British band of the same name, who emerged from London's psychedelic scene in 1967 and was “fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, guitar demigod Jasper de Zoet and blues bassist Dean Moss”, said publisher Sceptre.

Other works

Following the release of the 2012 film adaptation of ''Cloud Atlas'', Mitchell commenced work as a screenwriter alongside Lana Wachowski (one of ''Cloud Atlas'' three directors). In 2015, Mitchell contributed plotting and scripted scenes for the second season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series '' Sense8'' by

the Wachowskis Lana Wachowski (born June 21, 1965, formerly known as Larry Wachowski) and Lilly Wachowski (born December 29, 1967, formerly known as Andy Wachowski) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans ...

, who had adapted the novel for the screen, and together with Aleksandar Hemon they wrote the series finale. Mitchell had signed a contract to write season three of the series before Netflix's cancellation of the show. In August 2019, it was announced that Mitchell would continue his collaboration with Lana Wachowski and Hemon to write the screenplay for '' The Matrix Resurrections'' with them.

Personal life

After another stint in Japan, Mitchell and his wife, Keiko Yoshida, live in Ardfield, County Cork, Ireland, . They have two children. In an essay for

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Ger ...

, Mitchell wrote:

I knew I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid, but until I came to Japan to live in 1994 I was too easily distracted to do much about it. I would probably have become a writer wherever I lived, but would I have become the same writer if I'd spent the last six years in London, or
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...
, or Moose Jaw, on an oil rig or in the circus? This is my answer to myself.

Mitchell has a stammer"Lost for words"
David Mitchell, ''Prospect'' magazine, 23 February 2011, Issue No. 180 and considers the film '' The King's Speech'' (2010) to be one of the most accurate portrayals of what it is like to be a stammerer: "I'd probably still be avoiding the subject today had I not outed myself by writing a semi-autobiographical novel, ''Black Swan Green'', narrated by a stammering 13-year-old." Mitchell is also a patron of the British Stammering Association. Mitchell's son is autistic. In 2013 he and his wife Yoshida translated a book attributed to Naoki Higashida, a 13-year-old Japanese autistic boy, titled '' The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism''. Higashida allegedly learned to communicate using the discredited techniques of

facilitated communication Facilitated communication (FC), or supported typing, is a scientifically discredited technique that attempts to aid communication by people with autism or other communication disabilities who are non-verbal. The facilitator guides the disabled ...

and rapid prompting method.} In 2017, Mitchell and his wife translated the follow-up book also attributed to Higashida, '' Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8: A Young Man's Voice from the Silence of Autism''.

List of works

Novels *'' Ghostwritten'' (1999) *'' number9dream'' (2001) *'' Cloud Atlas'' (2004) *'' Black Swan Green'' (2006) *'' The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet'' (2010) *'' The Bone Clocks'' (2014) *''

Slade House ''Slade House'' is the seventh novel by British novelist David Mitchell. The novel received mixed reviews. ''Slade House'' originated as a Twitter story which was then developed into a full novel, and is a companion to ''The Bone Clocks''. Set ...

'' (2015) *'' From Me Flows What You Call Time'' (2016; publishing delayed until ) *'' Utopia Avenue'' (2020) Short stories *"The January Man", ''

'' 81: Best of Young British Novelists, Spring 2003 *"What You Do Not Know You Want", '' McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories'', Vintage Books (Random House), 2004 *"Acknowledgments", ''

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...

'', 2005 *"Preface", ''The Daily Telegraph'', April 2006 *"Dénouement", ''The Guardian'', May 2007 *"Judith Castle", ''The New York Times'', January 2008 *"An Inside Job", Included in "Fighting Words", edited by Roddy Doyle, published by Stoney Road Press, 2009 (Limited to 150 copies) *"The Massive Rat", ''The Guardian'', August 2009 *"Character Development", ''The Guardian'', September 2009 *"Muggins Here", ''The Guardian'', August 2010 *"Earth calling Taylor", ''Financial Times'', December 2010 *"The Siphoners", Included in "I'm With the Bears: Short Stories from a Damaged Planet", 2011 *"The Gardener", in the exhibit "The Flower Show" by Kai and Sunny, 2011 (Limited to 50 copies) *"Lots of Bits of Star", in the exhibit "Caught by the Nest" by Kai and Sunny, 2013 (Limited to 50 copies) *"Variations on a Theme by Mister Donut",

127: Japan, Spring 2014 *"The Right Sort", Twitter, 2014
"A Forgettable Story", ''Cathay Pacific Discovery'', July 2017
rchivedbr>"If Wishes Was Horses", ''The New York Times Magazine'', July 2020"By Misadventure"
'' The European Review of Books'', 11 June 2021 Libretto for opera *"Wake" opera in four acts (May 2010) by Klaas de Vries (composer),

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

by René Uijlenhoet for

Nationale Reisopera The Nederlandse Reisopera (formerly Nationale Reisopera) is a Dutch opera company based in Enschede, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the company performs an annual season of fully staged operas. The organization regularly tours their productions, and ...

*"Sunken Garden"(12 April 2013), film opera for

at Barbican Theatre Selected articles *"Japan and my writing", Essay *"Enter the Maze", ''The Guardian'', 2004 *"Kill me or the cat gets it", ''The Guardian'', 2005 (Book review of Kafka on the Shore) *"Let me speak", British Stammering Association, 2006 *"On historical fiction", ''The Daily Telegraph'', 2010 *"Adventures in Opera", ''The Guardian'', 2010 *"Imaginary City", ''

Geist ''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. Its semantic field corresponds to English ghost, spirit, mind, intellect. Some English translators resort to using "spirit/mind" or "spirit (mind)" to he ...

'', 2010 *"Lost for words", ''Prospect'', 2011 *"Learning to live with my son's autism", ''The Guardian'', 2013 *"David Mitchell on Earthsea – a rival to Tolkien and George RR Martin", ''The Guardian'', 23 October 2015 *"

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

and me: David Mitchell on being a lifelong fan of the pop poet". ''The Guardian'', 7 December 2018 Other *"The Earthgod and the Fox", 2012 (translation of a short story by Kenji Miyazawa; translation printed in McSweeney's Issue 42, 2012) *'' The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism'', 2013 (translation of

Naoki Higashida Naoki (直樹) is a masculine Japanese given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese long jumper *Naoki Bandou, voice actor * Naoki Harada (原田直樹, born 1991), Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *Naoki Ha ...

's work) *" Before the Dawn", 2014 (with

co-wrote two spoken scenes during ''The Ninth Wave'' sequence in this live production). *''

Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 is a biography attributed to Naoki Higashida, a nonverbal autistic person from Japan. It was first published in Japan in 2007. The English translation, by Keiko Yoshida and her husband, English author David Mitchell, was published in 2013. The ...

'', 2017 (translation of

's work) *"Amor Vincit Omnia", 2018; '' Sense8'' episode *'' The Matrix Resurrections'', 2021 (feature film screenplay co-written with Lana Wachowski and Aleksandar Hemon)

References

Sources

*"The world begins its turn with you, or how David Mitchell's novels think". In B. Schoene. ''The Cosmopolitan Novel''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. *Dillon, S. (ed.). ''David Mitchell: Critical Essays''. Kent: Gylphi, 2011. *

External links

Official websiteDavid Mitchell's profile
at the official

site * * *
David Mitchell - How I Write
Untitled Books, May 2010
"Get Writing: Playing With Structure" by David Mitchell
at BBC.co
"Character Development" by David Mitchell
a short story from ''

'' (2009)
"David Mitchell, the Experimentalist"
''New York Times Magazine'', June 2010
"The Floating Library: What can't the novelist David Mitchell do?"
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'', 5 July 2010
"The Art of Scriptwriting: David Mitchell on Matrix 4"
, at the 21. '' international literaturefestival berlin'', 10 September 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, David 1969 births 20th-century English novelists 20th-century translators 21st-century British novelists 21st-century translators Alumni of the University of Kent Autism activists Clonakilty English expatriates in Ireland English expatriates in Italy English expatriates in Japan Japanese–English translators John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Living people People educated at Hanley Castle High School People from Southport Postmodern writers Teachers of English as a second or foreign language World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers from Worcestershire English male novelists People with speech impediment