Patrick Ness (born 17 October 1971) is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the ''
Chaos Walking
''Chaos Walking'' is a young adult science fiction series written by American-British novelist Patrick Ness. It is set in a dystopian world where all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds call ...
'' trilogy and ''
A Monster Calls
''A Monster Calls'' is a low fantasy novel written for young adults by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd) illustrated by Jim Kay and published by Walker in 2011. Set in present-day England, it features a boy who struggles ...
''.
Ness won the annual
Carnegie Medal in 2011 and in 2012, for ''
Monsters of Men
''Monsters of Men'' is a young-adult science fiction novel by Patrick Ness, published by Walker Books in May 2010. It is the third book of the ''Chaos Walking'' trilogy inaugurated two years earlier by ''The Knife of Never Letting Go''. Walke ...
'' and ''
A Monster Calls
''A Monster Calls'' is a low fantasy novel written for young adults by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd) illustrated by Jim Kay and published by Walker in 2011. Set in present-day England, it features a boy who struggles ...
''.
[
He is one of seven writers to win two Medals, and the second to win consecutively.
He wrote the screenplay of the 2016 film adaptation of ''A Monster Calls'', and was the creator and writer of the '']Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' spin-off series ''Class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
''.
Early life
Ness was born near the Fort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fai ...
Army base, near Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...
, where his father was a lieutenant in the US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. They moved to Hawaii, where he lived until he was six, then spent the next ten years in Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
, before moving to Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Ness studied English Literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
at the University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.
After graduating, he worked as corporate writer for a cable company. He published his first story in ''Genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
'' magazine in 1997 and was working on his first novel when he moved to London in 1999.
Career
Ness's first novel, ''The Crash of Hennington'', was published in 2003, and was followed by his short story collection, ''Topics About Which I Know Nothing'', in 2004.
Ness's first young adult novel
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
was ''The Knife of Never Letting Go''. It won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...
in 2008.
The book was followed by ''The Ask and the Answer'', and ''Monsters of Men''. Together, the three books make up the ''Chaos Walking
''Chaos Walking'' is a young adult science fiction series written by American-British novelist Patrick Ness. It is set in a dystopian world where all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds call ...
'' trilogy. Ness has also written three short stories set in the ''Chaos Walking'' universe; the prequels "The New World" and "The Wide, Wide Sea", and "Snowscape", which is set after the events of ''Monsters of Men''. The short stories are available as free-to-download e-books
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
, and have been included in the 2013 UK print editions of the novels.
''A Monster Calls'' originated with the Irish writer, Siobhan Dowd
Siobhan Dowd (4 February 1960 – 21 August 2007) was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, '' Bog Child'', posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book fo ...
. Dowd had been diagnosed with cancer and was unable to complete the story before she died in 2007. Dowd and Ness shared an editor at Walker, Denise Johnstone-Burt, and after Dowd's death, Walker arranged for Ness to complete the story from her notes. Ness says his only guideline was to write a book he thought Dowd would have liked. Jim Kay was hired to illustrate the book, and the two completed the book without meeting. Ness won the Carnegie and Kay won the companion Kate Greenaway Medal
The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...
, the first time one book has won both medals.[
On 7 May 2013, Ness was revealed to be the author of ''Tip of the Tongue'', the May e-short featuring the ]Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from t ...
and Nyssa as part Puffin's eleven ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' e-shorts in honour of the show's 50th anniversary.
His fourth young adult novel, '' More Than This'', was published on 5 September 2013. It later made the Carnegie Medal shortlist of 2015.
''The Crane Wife'', Ness's third novel for adults, was published on 30 December 2014.
In 2014, Ness delivered the keynote speech at the ''Children's and Young Adult Program'' of the Berlin International Literature Festival
The Berlin International Literature Festival (german: internationales literaturfestival berlin) or ''ilb'' is an annual event based in Berlin. Every September, the festival presents contemporary poetry, prose, nonfiction, graphic novels and inte ...
.
''The Rest of Us Just Live Here,'' was published 25 August 2015 in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and 5 October 2015 in Canada and the United States.
On 1 October 2015, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
The resulting eight-part series aired on BBC Three's online channel toward the end of 2016. The BBC cancelled ''Class'' after one series.
''Release'', was published on 4 May 2017, described by Ness as a "private and intense book" with more personal inspiration than any before it.
In June 2021, Ness was said to be preparing a prequel script to the Napoleonic sea adventure movie ''
.
Ness was naturalised as a British citizen in 2005. He entered into a civil partnership with his partner in 2006, less than two months after the
came into force.
''. He has been a Fellow of the
.