Martin J. Goodman (born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
in 1956) is an English journalist and writer.
Early life
Martin Goodman went to
Loughborough Grammar School
, religion = Christian
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Dr Daniel Koch
, r_head_label = Chaplain
, r_head = Revd E J York
, chair_label = Chairman ...
He is Emeritus professorat the University of Hull, where he was Professor Creative Writing 2009-2019. Before moving to Hull, Martin Goodman was lecturer in Creative Writing at the
University of Plymouth
The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...
. He completed his PhD in Creative Writing at
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...
in 2007, and now teaches at the
University of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...
, where he was appointed Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the Philip Larkin Centre for Poetry and Creative Writing in 2009.
Career
Martin Goodman writes both fiction and nonfiction. His most recent book of nonfiction is Client Earth: Building an Ecological Civilization, May 2017, from Scribe Publications. This tells the story of ecolawyers saving the planet, and was co-written with his husband the environmental lawyer
James Thornton. They presented the work at the
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
's Antidote Festival in September 2017. They were interviewed about the book on
BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliament ...
's BOOKtalk in July 2017.
Granta Magazine
''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 ...
profiled their life and work together in an interview in July 2017. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Hull. He is the publisher of Barbican Press.
Recent novels ar
J SS Bach, Wrecking Ball Press 2018, an
Forever Konrad, PS Publishing 2017.
Martin Goodman once taught on the distance learning MA at Lancaster University, where he worked on the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
Crossing Borders scheme as a mentor to writers in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Goodman's novel ''On Bended Knees'' (Macmillan, 1992) was shortlisted for the
Whitbread First Novel Award (won by
Jeff Torrington
Jeff Torrington (31 December 1935 – 11 May 2008) was a novelist from Glasgow in Scotland.
His novels draw on the changing face of modern Scotland. ''Swing Hammer Swing'' (1992) was set during the demolition of the old Gorbals. It took 30 years t ...
's ''Swing Hammer Swing'').
His next books published were all non-fiction, often on a spiritual theme and published at first in America. He wrote a biography of
Mother Meera
Mother Meera, born Kamala Reddy (born 26 December 1960) is believed by her devotees to be an embodiment (Avatar) of the Divine Mother (Shakti or Devi).
Life account
Born in Chandepally a small village in the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of Te ...
, ''In Search of the Divine Mother'' (1998). His 2001 book ''I Was Carlos Castaneda'' recounted his experiences with
shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
and the plant hallucinogen
ayahuasca
AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...
.
''On Sacred Mountains'' (2002) is a round-the-world travelogue and journey of spiritual awakening; ''
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 ...
'' review stated: "Either an important spiritual document, or an admonitory example of the effects of oxygen deprivation."
His next novels were ''Slippery When Wet'' (2006), from Transita in Oxford; ''Look Who's Watching'' (2011) from Caffeine Nights, and ''Ectopia'' (2014) from
Barbican Press
Barbican Press is an independent publishing house launched in 2013 by Martin J. Goodman for "innovative novels that are just too edgy for the mainstream but allow people to break all bounds and find a unique voice."
Its titles include Kate Horsle ...
. He started Barbican Press with the slogan "Writing from the Discomfort Zone", with a list of novels written as PhDs inspired by his being external examiner for
D.D. Johnston
Michael Darren David Johnston, known as D.D. Johnston, (born 1979) is a Scottish political novelist. He currently lives in Cheltenham, England.[University of Gloucestershire
, mottoeng = In Spirit and Truth
, established =
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.4 m (2015)
, chancellor = Rennie Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie
, vice_chancellor ...]
. The first novel published was Johnston's ''The Deconstruction of Professor Thrub''.
He was one of the AHRC / BBC New Generation Thinkers in 2012–13. 2014 saw BBC Radio 4 broadcast his documentary on the writer Alan Garner, The Bronze Age Man of Jodrell Bank
His two-part Radio 4 series show ''The New North'' aired in 2013 and he wrote about the buildings in the North of England in the BBC online news magazine.
Martin Goodman gave a reading from his new novel on vampires at the Bram Stoker Birthday Conference in
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
in November 2013. This was published as Forever Konrad: A Vampire's Vampire in November 2017.
As Director of the Philip Larkin Centre he ran major public interview sessions in
Hull with writers such as
Hilary Mantel
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...
,
Steven Saylor
Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics.
Saylor's best-known work is his ''Roma Sub Rosa'' historical mystery ...
,
Christopher Hampton
Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...
,
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
,
Irene Sabatini,
Kate Mosse
Katharine Mosse (born 20 October 1961) is a British novelist, non-fiction and short story writer and broadcaster. She is best known for her 2005 novel ''Labyrinth'', which has been translated into more than 37 languages.
Early life and care ...
,
David Almond
David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.
He is one of thirty children's writers, and one of three from the UK, to win the bienn ...
,
Lachlan Mackinnon
Lachlan Mackinnon (born 1956) is a contemporary Scottish poet, critic and literary journalist. He was born in Aberdeen and educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford. He took early retirement from his job as a teacher of English at Win ...
,
Edna O'Brien
Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" D ...
. He started the Annual Children's Writing Event in Hull, working first of all with Emma Thompson and the Hull Children's Flood Project and then with
David Almond
David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.
He is one of thirty children's writers, and one of three from the UK, to win the bienn ...
hosted by students of Sidney Smith School and
Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction to explore social and ethica ...
, who wrote the introduction to a book of resulting stories by Hull children.
In 2011 he joined the Man Booker Prize Foundation University Initiative, bringing
D.B.C. Pierre to Hull to speak about his 2003 novel ''
Vernon God Little
''Vernon God Little'' (2003) is a novel by DBC Pierre. It was his debut novel and won the Man Booker Prize in 2003. It has twice been adapted as a stage play.
Plot synopsis
The life of Vernon Little, a normal teenager who lives in Martirio, T ...
'', after distributing a copy of the book to all first-year students at Hull and on film at
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
.
Julian Barnes
Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...
was his Man Booker guest in 2013.
Awards
''Client Earth'', written jointly with his husband
James Thornton (environmentalist)
James Thornton is an environmental lawyer and writer. He was the founding CEO of ClientEarth, a global non-profit environmental law organisation before moving into the non-executive role of President and Founder. Born in New York, he is also an Ir ...
, wa
Winner of the Judge's Choice, Business Book of the Yearin the Business Book of the Year Awards, 2018. is biography of the Scottish scientist and serial self-experimenter
John Scott Haldane
John Scott Haldane (; 2 May 1860 – 14/15 March 1936) was a British physician and physiologist famous for intrepid self-experimentation which led to many important discoveries about the human body and the nature of gases. He also experimen ...
, ''Suffer and Survive'', won 1st Prize, Basis of Medicine in the 2008 BMA Book Awards Martin Goodman has been awarded a
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...
Writer's Bursary, and Travel Awards from the Scottish Arts Council and the
Society of Authors
The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...
. His first novel ''On Bended Knees'' was shortlisted for the
Whitbread Prize
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 ...
. He was awarded a British Academy Small Research Grant in 2010 for a biography of
Taezan Maezumi Roshi.
His play ''Feeding the Roses'' won in Virtual Theatre's "Pen is a Mighty Sword" international playwriting competition in 2007, for "innovative plays that question the status quo and shed light on today's challenges".
A major two-year research grant, from the MacIntosh Foundation of Washington DC, USA, funded a life-writing project (2013–15), detailing how a group of public interest lawyers are working throughout Europe and West Africa to tackle urgent environmental issues such as
loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...
and climate change. This was published in the UK and Australia as Client Earth in 2017, with sections by James Thornton interleaving Goodman's narrative.
"Isaac Newton, dirty air litigation and limestone loving"
Oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk, Retrieved 19 November 2017
References
External links
Martin J. Goodman's web site
Martin Goodman's Hull University homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Martin J.
1956 births
Living people
Academics of the University of Hull
Academics of the University of Plymouth
Alumni of Lancaster University
English cartoonists
English essayists
British male essayists
English male poets
English male non-fiction writers
People educated at Loughborough High School