Kevin Sampson is a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

, best known for his novels ''Awaydays'' (1998), ''Powder'' (1999) and ''Stars Are Stars'' (2006). He lives in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

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, Wi ...

. His crime thriller, ''The Killing Pool'', was published by Cape on 21 March 2013.

Career

Sampson began writing gig reviews for

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

in the 80s, though was famously sacked by editor Neil Spencer for reviewing a

Sex Gang Children Sex Gang Children are an early gothic rock and post-punk band that formed in early 1982 in Brixton in London, England. Although the original group only released one official studio album, their singles and various other tracks have been pack ...

concert at a Liverpool club that had been burned down on the night the band had been due to appear. He went on to contribute regularly to '' The Face'', ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'', '' i-D'', ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'', '' Jamming'',

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 ...

and '' Time Out'' before joining

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

as an assistant editor for Youth Programmes. He left C4 to set up Kinesis Films, a company that specialised in documentaries about subcultures (notably ''Sole of the Nation'', a film about Dr. Martens boots, and ''Ibiza - A Short Film About Chilling''). Sampson returned to Merseyside in 1990 to help long-time friend

Peter Hooton Peter Hooton (born 28 September 1962) is the vocalist of Liverpool-based group the Farm. He was also its sole founder member in 1983, overseeing its rise to prominence with two top 10 singles in 1990, its breakup in 1996 and reformation in 2004 ...

set up Produce Records with partners Ian Croft, Wayne Chand, Barney Moores and Paul McKenna. Produce enjoyed a string of

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

hits in the early 1990s, including The Farm's " Groovy Train" and " All Together Now". When The Farm broke up in 1994, Sampson dug out the manuscript to a novella he had sent to Penguin in 1982. ''Awaydays'' was based on what he saw during his youth, travelling to, and at, football grounds up and down the country. Inspired by

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

's debut '' Trainspotting'', Sampson re-worked the novel, which was acquired by publisher Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape. ''Awaydays'' was an immediate critical and commercial success on its release in 1998. Sampson's second novel, ''Powder'', reflects some of his experiences of the music business with The Farm and Produce Records, and subsequent adventures in Ibiza, and working for Richard Branson's V2 Music. ''Awaydays'' was adapted to film in 2009. He writes about his involvement in the Ibiza film ''A Short Film About Chilling'' in the Summer 2010 '' Umbrella Magazines Issue 1 Umbrella_Magazine
_.html" ;"title="Umbrella Magazine">Umbrella Magazine
">Umbrella Magazine">Umbrella Magazine
/ref> and a film version of ''Powder'' was released August 2011. ''Surveillance'', a film from one of Sampson's original screenplays, was in competition at the Berlinale's "Panorama" section in 2008, and his forthcoming crime thriller ''Gangsterland'' is under option with Red Union Films. In 2018, Sampson was hired to pen World Productions' new mini-series ''Anne'', for ITV, which centres on Anne Williams' crusade for justice after the death of her son Kevin in the Hillsborough disaster of 1989.

Novels

*''Awaydays'' (1998) *''Powder'' (1999) *''Leisure'' (2000) *''Outlaws'' (2001) *''Clubland'' (2002) *''Freshers'' (2003) *''Stars are Stars'' (2006) *''Extra Time'' (2012) *'' The Killing Pool'' (2013) *'' The House on the Hill'' (2014)

Notes

External links

Author page2001 interview
''The Guardian''
Article by Sampson on adaptation of ''Awaydays''
''The Observer'', November 2008
"Endless Summer"
Article by Sampson on A Short Film About Chilling in Ibiza in Umbrella Magazine, Issue 1, p. 53
'Kevin Sampson' entry in ''British Crime Writing: an encyclopedia'', edited by Barry Forshaw
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Kevin 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)