Jon McGregor (born 1976) is a British novelist and short story writer. In 2002, his

first 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 pu ...

was longlisted 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 award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

, making him then the youngest ever contender. His second and fourth novels were longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006 and 2017 respectively. In 2012, his third novel, ''Even the Dogs'', was awarded the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. ''

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 ...

'' has labelled him a "wicked British writer".

Early life

Born in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, McGregor was raised in the UK. He grew up in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. He attended

City College Norwich City College Norwich is a college of further and higher education in Norfolk, England. It is one of the largest colleges in the country. The College has expanded in recent years following mergers with Easton College in 2020 and Paston College ...

sixth form and then studied for a degree in Media Technology and Production at

Bradford University The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

. In his final year there he contributed a series entitled "Cinema 100" to the anthology ''Five Uneasy Pieces'' (Pulp Faction).

Career

Having moved to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

(where he now lives), he wrote his first novel, '' If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'', while living on a

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commerc ...

. It was nominated for the 2002

, making its author the youngest contender and only first novelist on the longlist. McGregor was only 26 at the time. ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' went on to win the Betty Trask Prize and the

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 ...

, among other honours. His novel ''So Many Ways to Begin'', published in 2006, also found its way onto the Booker Prize longlist. McGregor was commissioned to write a short story, which was called "Close", for the

Cheltenham Literature Festival ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for t ...

in 2007. McGregor has had short fiction published by several magazines, including ''

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 ...

'' magazine. His first collection of short stories is entitled ''This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You'' (2012). His influences include

Alice Munro Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935 – c. September 16, 1984) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. A prolific writer, he wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four bo ...

and

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; born May 9, 1938), known as Charles Simic, is a Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the ''Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for ''The World Doesn't ...

. In 2010, McGregor received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, and was made an honorary lecturer in their School of English Studies. He is currently a writer-in-residence for the charity

First Story First Story is an English non-profit organisation that encourages young people to write creatively, outside the curriculum, for self-expression, pleasure and agency. Its stated mission is to empower young people from low-income communities to find ...

. On 13 June 2012, McGregor was awarded the

for his third novel ''Even the Dogs'', with Lord Mayor Andrew Montague announcing the winner at the

Mansion House, Dublin The Mansion House ( ga, Teach an Ard-Mhéara) is a house on Dawson Street, Dublin, which has been the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715, and was also the meeting place of the Dáil Éireann from 1919 until 1922. Histor ...

. The book was nominated for the award by Rudomino State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow. The International Dublin Literary Award was a competition among 147 writers nominated by international public libraries, including

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winner

Jennifer Egan Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short-story writer. Egan's novel ''A Visit from the Goon Squad'' won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. As of February 28, 2018, she is the Presiden ...

. McGregor received a prize of €100,000. The prize's judging panel, which included the British novelist

Tim Parks Timothy Harold Parks (born 19 December 1954) is a British novelist, translator, author and professor of literature. Career He is the author of eighteen novels (notably ''Europa'', which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1997). His first ...

and the

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian writer

Elizabeth Nunez Elizabeth Nunez is a Trinidadian American novelist and Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College– CUNY, New York City. Her novels have won a number of awards: ''Prospero's Daughter'' received the ''New York Times'' Editors' Choice ...

, described ''Even the Dogs'', a novel detailing the highs and lows of drug addiction, as a "fearless experiment". McGregor described it as "a real honour to have been selected from such a huge list of fantastic works from around the world." He was the first British writer to win the award since

Nicola Barker Nicola Barker (born 30 March 1966) is an English novelist and short story writer. She was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. When she was still young her parents left England and settled in South Africa. Fiction Typically she writes about ...

in 2000.

Works

Novels

* '' If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' (Bloomsbury, 2002) * ''

So Many Ways to Begin ''So Many Ways to Begin'' is British author Jon McGregor's second novel, first published in 2006. It was longlisted for the 2006 Booker Prize. See also *2006 in literature *''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things ''If Nobody Speaks of Remar ...

'' (Bloomsbury, 2006) * '' Even the Dogs'' (Bloomsbury, 2010) * ''Reservoir 13'' (HarperCollins, 2017) * ''Lean Fall Stand'' (HarperCollins, 2021)

Short story collections

* ''This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You'' (Bloomsbury, 2012) * ''The Reservoir Tapes'' (2017) * "we wave and call"(2012)

Awards and honours

* 2002 ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' Young Writer of the Year Award, ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' * 2002

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 ...

(Eurasia Region, Best First Book), shortlist, ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' * 2003

, longlist, ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' * 2003

, winner, ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' * 2003

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...

, shortlist, ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' * 2003 Betty Trask Prize, winner, ''If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' * 2006

, longlist, ''So Many Ways to Begin'' * 2010 BBC National Short Story Competition, runner-up * 2010

, honorary doctorate * 2011 BBC National Short Story Competition, runner-up * 2012

, winner, ''Even the Dogs'' * 2017 Costa Book Award, Novel, ''Reservoir 13'' * 2017

Goldsmiths Prize The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the ''New Statesman.'' It is awarded annually to a piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of ...

, Shortlist, ''Reservoir 13'' * 2017

, Longlist, ''Reservoir 13''

References

External links

* on's Official website has been hacked (9 July 2021) so this link has been deleted
"My desktop"
in ''

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 ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Jon 1976 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bradford 21st-century British novelists Bermudian novelists Writers from Norwich Postmodern writers British male novelists People from Thetford 21st-century British male writers People educated at City College Norwich