Paul McDonald (born 1961 in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

) is a British academic, comic novelist, and poet. He teaches English and American Literature at the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute founde ...

, where he also runs the Creative and Professional Writing Programme. He left school at 16 and began work as a saddlemaker, an occupation that provides the backdrop for his first novel, ''Surviving Sting'' (2001). After a period studying with the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, McDonald entered full-time education at Birmingham Polytechnic, where he began writing fiction, initially producing stories for the women's romance market under a female pseudonym. He later won a scholarship to research a PhD, and in 1994 took an academic post teaching American literature at the University of Wolverhampton. His second novel, ''Kiss Me Softly, Amy Turtle'' (2004) is a comic mystery satirising the Midlands town of

, while his third, ''Do I Love You?'' (2008), takes Northern Soul as its theme. His poetry began appearing in the early 1990s and embraces a range of themes and styles. Again humour is a feature, as is surrealism, but he also writes serious love poetry, and verse about art and travel. His most recent collections are ''Catch a Falling Tortoise'' (2007) and ''An Artist Goes Bananas'' (2012). McDonald's poetry has won several prizes, including the 2012 John Clare Prize. His academic writing includes books on

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

Joseph Heller Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel ''Catch-22'', a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for ...

, the fiction of The Black Country, and humour. As a humour specialist, McDonald has made several TV appearances, including on '' BBC Breakfast'' and ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'', and he is credited with identifying the oldest

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...

in the world. He discusses the latter, and some of the ideas contained in his book ''The Philosophy of Humour'' with

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...

in the BBC documentary ''Michael Grade & The World's Oldest Joke''.''Michael Grade & The World's Oldest Joke''
broadcast 6 March 2013 (BBC Four).

Bibliography

Poetry

*''The Right Suggestion'' (1999) *''Catch a Falling Tortoise'' (2007) *''An Artist Goes Bananas'' (2012) *''Rimbaud's Hair'' (2017)

Novels

*''Surviving Sting'' (2001) *''Kiss Me Softly, Amy Turtle'' (2004) *''Do I Love You?'' (2008)

Criticism

*''Fiction from the Furnace'' (2002) *''Students Guide to Philip Roth'' (2003) *''Laughing at the Darkness'' (2011) *''Reading Catch-22'' (2012) *''Reading Toni Morrison's Beloved'' (2013) *''Storytelling'' (2014) *''Philip Roth Through the Lens of Kepesh'' (2016) *''The Enigmas of Confinement'' (2018) *''Lydia Davis: A Study'' (2019) *''Allen Ginsberg:Cosmopolitan Comic'' (2020)

Philosophy

*''The Philosophy of Humour'' (2013)

As editor

*''Loffing Matters'' (2006) *''The Tipping Point'' (2012)

References

External links

* Publisher's Website (fiction

* Publisher's Website (poetry

* University of Wolverhampton Staff Pag

* An ''Independent on Sunday'' article in which Paul McDonald discusses humou

* A ''Birmingham Post'' article in which Paul McDonald gives advice on how to write humour

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Paul English male poets English literary critics 21st-century English novelists Alumni of Birmingham City University Academics of the University of Wolverhampton Living people 1961 births English male novelists 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers