Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

and he has won several awards, including the

Los Angeles Times Book Award Since 1980, the '' Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the ...

. His most recent novel is ''Mayflies'' (2020), which won the Christopher Isherwood Prize.

Early life and education

O'Hagan was born in

Glasgow city centre Glasgow City Centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. Is bounded by Saltmarket, High Street and Castle Street to the east, The River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to its west and north. Glasgow City Centre is comp ...

in 1968, of Irish Catholic descent, and grew up in

Kilwinning Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Pa ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east a ...

. His mother was a school cleaner, his father worked as a joiner in Paisley, and he had four elder brothers. His father was a violent

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

, and as a boy, he would hide books from his father under his bed. He attended St Winning's Primary then St Michael's Academy before studying at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

, the first in his family to reach tertiary education. He earned his BA (Honours) in English in 1990.

Writing career

In 1991, O'Hagan joined the staff of the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review o ...

'', where he worked for four years. In 1995, he published his first book, ''The Missing'', which drew from his own childhood and explored the lives of people who have gone missing in Britain and the families left behind. ''The Missing'' was shortlisted for three literary awards: the Esquire Award, the

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

Scottish First Book of the Year Award, and the McVities Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year award. In 1999, his debut novel, '' Our Fathers'' was nominated for several awards, including the

, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. It won the

Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize The Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize was presented from 1967 until 2003 by the Royal Society of Literature for the best regional novel of the year. It is named after the novelist Winifred Holtby who was noted for her novels set in the rural scenes o ...

. In 2003, his next novel ''Personality'', which has close similarities to the life of Lena Zavaroni, won the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

for fiction. That same year, O'Hagan won the

E. M. Forster Award The E. M. Forster Award is a $20,000 award given annually to an Irish or British writer to fund a period of travel in the United States. The award, named after the English novelist E. M. Forster, is administered by the American Academy of Arts and ...

from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. In 2006, his third novel, ''Be Near Me'', was published by

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

and long-listed for that year's Booker Prize. It went on to win the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

s 2007 Prize for Fiction. In 2008, he edited a new selection of Robert Burns's poems for

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner '' Life of Pi''. Canongate wa ...

, published as ''A Night Out with Robert Burns''. A copy was lodged in every secondary school in Scotland. Following on from this, he wrote and presented a three-part film on Burns for the BBC, ''The World According to Robert Burns'', first on 5 January 2009. In January 2011, ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate '' The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 20 ...

'' gave away 80,000 copies of the book. Also in 2008, Faber & Faber published O'Hagan's first non-fiction collection, ''The Atlantic Ocean: Essays on Britain and America'', which was shortlisted for the 2008 Saltire Book of the Year Award. His 2010 novel, ''The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe'', is told in the voice of a Scottish Maltese poodle ("Maf"), the name of the real dog given by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

in 1960. It was published by Faber & Faber in May 2010 and won O'Hagan a

Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards are annual awards given to notable Scottish people. It is sponsored by the Scotch whisky company Glenfiddich, in association with The Scotsman newspaper. Nine awards are given out for art, business, envir ...

. In 2012, O'Hagan worked on a theatrical production about the crisis in British newspapers, entitled ''Enquirer'', with the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

. In March 2014, O'Hagan wrote about his experience as a ghost-writer for

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army int ...

's autobiography (published by

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Old Town, Edinburgh, Edinburgh's ...

and

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers i ...

). His essay, entitled "Ghosting", published in the ''London Review of Books'', gained significant media attention because of his description of Assange's character and strained relationships with past and present colleagues. In 2015, O'Hagan published his fifth novel ''The Illuminations: A Novel'', which was longlisted for the

. In June 2016, the ''London Review of Books'' published a 35,612-word essay by O'Hagan, titled "The Satoshi Affair: Andrew O'Hagan on the many lives of Satoshi Nakamoto", which followed the events surrounding programmer Craig Wright's claim to be

bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

founder, Satoshi Nakomoto. In the article, O'Hagan, describes how he was approached by Wright and , a group that he was associated with, in order to cover the exposure of Craig Wright's identity as Satoshi. Though the article is inconclusive as to the true identity of Satoshi, some have taken it as evidence that Wright is a fraud. In October 2017, O'Hagan published ''The Secret Life: Three True Stories of the Digital Age'' that includes stories about his attempt to help Julian Assange write his memoirs, the author using the identity of a deceased man to make a new life on the Internet, and expanding on Craig Wright's claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto. In September 2020, O'Hagan published his sixth novel, ''Mayflies''. His essays, reports and stories have appeared in ''London Review of Books'', ''

New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

'', ''

Granta ''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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''.

Adaptations

Three of O'Hagan's books have received adaptations into different media. In 1996,

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 ...

Television presented ''Calling Bible John: Portrait of a Serial Killer'', nominated for a BAFTA award. In 2009, his novel ''Be Near Me'' was adapted by

Ian McDiarmid Ian McDiarmid (; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen, best known for portraying the Sith Lord Emperor Sheev Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the ''Star Wars'' multimedia franchise. Making his stage debut in ' ...

for the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

and the

. In September 2011, the

presented ''The Missing'' as a play adapted by O'Hagan and directed by John Tiffany at Tramway, Glasgow. The play received favourable reviews. ''The Daily Telegraph'' called it "a profound act of mourning and memory." ''The Guardian'' called the work "an arresting, genre-defying work – part speculative memoir, part Orwellian social reportage" that "induces the kind of shock he he authormust have experienced..."

Other activities

In 2001, O'Hagan was named as a

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

by the UK branch of

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

, and he has been involved in fundraising efforts for the organisation. He has travelled to the Sudan, India, Malawi and Mozambique and has joined fellow ambassadors

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...

and Jemima Khan in campaigning for

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

. In August 2017, O'Hagan gave a speech at The

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...

, where he declared that he had become a supporter of

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. ...

. , O'Hagan has been a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Recognition, awards and honours

O'Hagan was selected by the literary magazine ''Granta'' for inclusion in their 2003 list of the top 20 young British novelists, and his novels have been translated into 15 languages.

Book awards

* 1995 – Esquire Award for ''The Missing'' (shortlist) * 1995 – McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year for ''The Missing'' (shortlist) * 1995 – Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award for ''The Missing'' (shortlist) * 1996 – BAFTA, ''Calling Bible John'' (TV series, winner) * 1999 –

for ''Our Fathers'' (shortlist) * 1999 – Whitbread First Novel Award for ''Our Fathers'' (shortlist) * 2000 – Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for ''Our Fathers'' (shortlist) * 2000 –

for ''Our Fathers'' (winner) * 2001 –

for ''Our Fathers'' (shortlist) * 2003 –

(for fiction), Personality (winner) * 2006 –

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ...

(for fiction), Be Near Me (winner) * 2010 –

for Writing (winner) *2020 – Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose (winner)

Other honours and appointments

*Trustee of George Orwell Trust *Patron of

Scottish Book Trust Scottish Book Trust is a national charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland promoting literature, reading and writing in Scotland. Scottish Book Trust works with and for a range of audiences, including babies and parents (through the Bookbug program ...

*2008: Honorary Doctor of Letters,

*2008: Joined Robert Burns Humanitarian Award judging panel *2009: Honorary lifetime member of Irvine Burns Club *2010: Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

*2019: Named chief judge Scottish Arts Trust Story Awards, succeeding

Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law an ...

in that role, on 6 December 2019

Selected works

Fiction books

* '' Our Fathers'', 1999 * ''Personality'', 2003 * ''Be Near Me'', 2006 * '' The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe'', 2010 * ''The Illuminations'', 2015 * ''Mayflies'', 2020

Non-fiction books

* ''The Missing'', 1995 * ''The Atlantic Ocean: Essays'', 2008 * ''The Secret Life: Three True Stories of the Digital Age'', 2017

Other writings

* Short stories:
online text
from ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', 7 December 2008 * As a ghostwriter: '' Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography'', 2011 * Editing: **''New Writing 11'', 2002 ** ''The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta'', 2004 ** ''A Night Out with Robert Burns'', 2008 * Book Reviews: **"Racing against reality" ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'' 54/11 (28 June 2007): 4–8 eview_of_Don_DeLillo,_'' eview_of_Don_DeLillo,_''Falling_Man_(novel)">Falling_Man''.html" ;"title="Falling_Man_(novel).html" ;"title="Don_DeLillo.html" ;"title="eview of Don DeLillo">eview of Don DeLillo, ''Falling Man (novel)">Falling Man''">Falling_Man_(novel).html" ;"title="Don_DeLillo.html" ;"title="eview of Don DeLillo">eview of Don DeLillo, ''Falling Man (novel)">Falling Man''** "Run" ''Publishers Weekly'' Fiction Reviews: Week of 16 July 2007. Review of ''Run (novel), Run'' by Ann Patchett. * ''The Satoshi Affair: Andrew O’Hagan on the many lives of Satoshi Nakamoto'' (2016, non-fiction) * ''"Ghosting"'' ''London Review of Books'', 6 March 2014 * ''The Tower'', a 60,000-word essay about the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 esca ...

in ''The London Review of Books''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohagan, Andrew 1968 births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century British male writers 20th-century Scottish novelists 21st-century British male writers 21st-century Scottish novelists Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Granta people James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients People from Kilwinning Scottish journalists Scottish literary critics Scottish magazine editors Scottish male novelists Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish Roman Catholics Writers from Glasgow