Patrick Neate (born 1970) 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 aspire to ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and podcaster.

Early life

Born and raised as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in South

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, he was educated at St. Paul's School and

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 ...

. He spent a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and has since returned to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

on many occasions. He drew on the gap year experience in ''Musungu Jim and the Great Chief Tuloko''.

Career

Novels

His books to date, in order of publication, include ''Musungu Jim'', ''

Twelve Bar Blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based o ...

'', ''London Pigeon Wars'', ''Where You're At'', ''

City of Tiny Lights ''City of Tiny Lights'' is a 2016 British crime thriller film directed by Pete Travis and written by Patrick Neate, based on his own 2005 novel of the same name. It stars Riz Ahmed, Cush Jumbo, James Floyd, Billie Piper and Roshan Seth. Set ...

'', ''Culture is Our Weapon'', and ''Jerusalem''. ''Musungu Jim'', ''Twelve Bar Blues'' and ''Jerusalem'' are a trilogy in that the characters of Jim and Musa Musa are found in all three novels. However, each stands alone. In each, he takes a foreign culture and explores the nature of story and the power of stories to create identities. At its best, his writing is lyrical about the nature of humanity, and yet still sufficiently entertaining to count as an "easy read." ''Musungu Jim'' envisages a coup triggered off by a hapless gap year student in an African dictatorship not unlike

Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the Z ...

's Zimbabwe. ''Twelve Bar Blues'' interweaves various characters but focusses chiefly on Lick Holden, a semi-mythical horn player, not unlike the legendary

Buddy Bolden Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an African American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass", which later c ...

. In ''The London Pigeon Wars'', he attempted to talk about his own milieu, London, but the twist comes through the fact that part of the

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

is focalised through the

pigeons Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

who are at war in the area. Thematically, it tackles the dangers of

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

. ''City of Tiny Lights'' is a further change of genre, entering the mystery thriller. This time, the publication uncannily coincided with the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

as his

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

-loving detective, Tommy Akhtar, uncovers crime that leads into terrorist cells. ''Where You're At'' draws on Neate's first love, hip-hop. A work of non-fiction, it shows the author crossing the planet to uncover the meanings hip-hop has accrued in different cultures. ''Jerusalem'' follows on from ''Musungu Jim'' and ''Twelve Bar Blues''. It uses a three-way plot line: the first plotline follows a soldier at the time of the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

struggling with Englishness; the second concerns Jim, Musa and the dictator of Zambawi; the third, a contemporary take on Britain, following style guru Preston Pinner, creating a new hip-hop sensation "Nobody", whose take on

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

plays out as a major hit. Across his work, recurring themes are the ability of re-envisage common situations from an alternative

point of view Point of view or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or thinks of something * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the prono ...

, to imagine himself into a completely different world and to realise the importance of story in establishing one's self-identity.

Screen and performance

Neate wrote the screenplay for the 2016 film ''

'', starring

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

and based on his novel of the same name. Neate also wrote the screenplay for the film '' The Tesseract'', adapted from the book by

Alex Garland Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English writer and filmmaker. He rose to prominence as a novelist in the late 1990s with his novel '' The Beach'', which led some critics to call Garland a key voice of Generation X. He subsequ ...

. Neate's longform poem "Babel" was transformed into a physical theatre piece by acclaimed choreographers, Stan Won't Dance, in 2010. A passionate supporter of literary diversity, Neate founded Book Slam with

Ben Watt Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt (born 6 December 1962) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ and radio presenter, best known as one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. Early life Watt was born in Marylebone, London, and grew u ...

(from

Everything but the Girl Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt ...

), a prominent and well-regarded storytelling salon in which writers, poets and singer-songwriters perform in a nightclub environment.

Journalism

Publications for which Neate has written include ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''Building'', ''Hospital Doctor'', ''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

'', ''Doctor'', ''Minx'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'', ''The Sunday Times'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Harpers and Queen'', ''The Sunday Tribune'', ''The Standard'', ''Mixmag'', ''Sky'', ''Q'', ''Time Out'', ''Tatler'', ''The Sunday Telegraph'' and ''The Independent on Sunday''.

Awards

In 2000, Neate won a

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

for his first novel, ''Musungu Jim''. In 2001 he won a

Whitbread Award 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 ...

for his second book, ''Twelve Bar Blues'', which also won the Prix de l'inaperçu in France. In 2005, he won the NBCC Award for Criticism for his non-fiction book about hip hop culture, ''Where You're At''. He has also been shortlisted for the Authors' Club Award, the L.A. Times Book Award and an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

(the Mystery Writers of America Awards).

Filmography

* '' The Tesseract'' (2003) (Screenwriter) * ''

'' (2016) (Screenwriter)

References

External links

Patrick Neate: official website
*
BBC interview with NeateBBC Blast interview with Patrick NeateBook Slam3:AM interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neate, Patrick 1970 births 21st-century English novelists Alumni of the University of Cambridge English male journalists English male novelists English male screenwriters English screenwriters Living people 21st-century British screenwriters 21st-century English male writers People educated at St Paul's School, London