Gaby Wood, Hon.

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(born 1971), is an English journalist, author and literary critic who has written for publications including ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'', '' Granta'', and ''

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''. She is the literary director of 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 award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

Foundation, appointed in succession to

Ion Trewin Ion Courtenay Gill Trewin (13 July 1943 – 8 April 2015) was a British editor, publisher and author. Biography Born in London, the son of J. C. Trewin and Wendy Trewin (''née'' Monk), Ion Trewin was educated at Highgate School. He was the li ...

and having taken over the post at the conclusion of the prize for 2015.Jennifer (20 April 2015)
"Booker Prize Foundation Hints at New Direction with Appointment of Gaby Wood as Literary Director"
Books Live, ''Sunday Times''.

Career

Wood read French literature at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and was a recipient of the Harper-Wood Studentship from St John's College in 1999. She was a journalist at ''

'' from 2002, and during her time at the paper was deputy literary editor, arts editor, editor of the review section and New York correspondent for seven years.Keegan, Hannah (15 March 2019)
"Journalist Gaby Wood on why she’ll never forget this one-word answer from Donald Trump"
''

Stylist Stylist can refer to: Occupations * Automotive stylist or car stylist, a person involved in designing the appearance and ergonomics of automobiles * Food stylist, a person who makes food look attractive in photographs * Hair stylist, a person w ...

''. Wood's book ''Living Dolls: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life'' (US edition: ''Edison's Eve'') was published in 2002. Described by

Miranda Seymour Miranda Jane Seymour (born 8 August 1948) is an English literary critic, novelist and biographer. The lives she has described have included those of Robert Graves and Mary Shelley. Seymour, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, has in r ...

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 ...

'' as a "lively, elegant and surprising book, packed with curious details and enticing anecdotes", it was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2003. Wood was awarded a 2007–2008 Cullman fellowship at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. Wood was ''

''s head of books, overseeing literature coverage, from January 2010 until 2015, and continues to write for the paper.Page, Benedicte (30 April 2015)
"Gaby Wood made Booker's literary director"
'' The Bookseller''."Gaby Wood appointed as the next Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation"
, The Booker Prizes, 29 April 2015. She has also written for the ''

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Granta'', and US ''

'', among other publications, and has served as a judge for literary awards including 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 2011, ''Granta'' magazine's

Best of Young British Novelists ''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 ...

, the

Jerwood Award The Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction were financial awards made to assist new writers of non-fiction to carry out new research, and/or to devote more time to writing. The awards were administrated by the Royal Society of ...

, the

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Irish ...

(2013), and the ''Bookseller'' Industry Awards. Wood was announced as literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation in April 2015, a few weeks after the death of her predecessor

(who had held the role since 2006, taking over from

Martyn Goff Martyn may refer to: *Martyn (surname), one of the Tribes of Galway and others *Martyn (given name) See also *Martin (disambiguation) *Marten (disambiguation) A marten is a mammal in the family ''Mustelidae''. Marten, Mårten, or Martén may also ...

, who ran the prize for three decades). In July 2021, Wood was elected an honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

Personal life

Wood is the daughter of Michael Wood, Professor Emeritus in English at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, and has described herself as "half-Mexican, half-British ... growing up in Mexico and England".Wood, Gaby (7 June 2009)
"Why does the US hate my Mexican heritage?"
''The Guardian''. She has two daughters.

Selected bibliography

* ''The Smallest Of All Persons Mentioned In The Records Of Littleness'',

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current events, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distribu ...

, 1998 * ''Living Dolls: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life'', Faber and Faber, 2002, ; paperback 2003, . **US edition: ''Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life'', Alfred A. Knopf, 2002, ; Anchor Books, 2003,

References

External links

Gaby Wood
''Observer'' contributor page
Gaby Wood
''The Telegraph'' contributor page

''Yahoo'' contributor page {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Gaby 1971 births Living people The Daily Telegraph people The Observer people British women journalists