Paul Torday (; 1 August 1946 – 18 December 2013) was a British writer and the author of the

comic novel A comic novel is a novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's literary ...

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' is a 2011 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas and Amr Waked. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Paul Torday ...

''. The book was the winner of the 2007

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' an ...

for comic writing and was serialised on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. It won the

Waverton Good Read Award The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 by villagers in Waverton, Cheshire, Waverton, Chester, England, and is based on ''Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur'', a literary prize awarded by a Provence, Provençal village. Adult debut novels writ ...

in 2008. It was made into a popular movie in 2011, starring

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 ...

and

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards. ...

Life

Born in 1946 in

Croxdale Croxdale is a village in the civil parish of Croxdale and Hett, situated about south of Durham City, in County Durham , England and on the A167 road, formerly part of the Great North Road. It is on the route of the East Coast Main Line and at on ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, and educated at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , cha ...

and

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, Torday turned to fiction writing only later in life, and his first novel was published at the age of 59. Prior to that he was a successful businessman living in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. The inspiration for the novel stemmed from Torday's interest in both

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. From these two strands, he weaves a political satire that centres on the world of political spin management. His second novel is entitled ''The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce'' (titled ''Bordeaux'' in the United States) and is about a man who drinks himself to death. In 2008, he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Galaxy British Book Awards. Torday's third book ''The Girl on the Landing'' was published in 2009. This novel deals principally with themes of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. His son Piers Torday is a children's writer.

Bibliography

Novels

Torday's novels include: *(2006) ''

'' *(2008) '' The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce'' *(2009) '' The Girl on the Landing'' *(2010) '' The Hopeless Life Of Charlie Summers'' *(2011) '' More Than You Can Say'' *(2012) '' The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall'' *(2013) '' Light Shining in the Forest'' *(2016) '' The Death Of An Owl''

The Paul Torday Memorial Prize

Paul Torday published his first novel ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' aged 60. The family decided to set up this new prize in Torday's honour in 2019, celebrating first novels by authors aged 60 or over. This prize is administered by 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 ...

. 2022 * Winner: Jane Fraser for ''Advent'' (Honno Press) * Runner-up: Michael Mallon for ''The Disciple'' (Zuleika) Shortlisted: * John Fletcher for ''Wuhan'' (Head of Zeus) * Anthony English for ''Death of a Coast Watcher'' (Monsoon Books) * Yvonne Bailey-Smith for ''The Day I Fell Off My Island'' (Myriad Editions) 2020 * Winner: Donald Murray for ''As the Woman Lay Dreaming'' (Saraband) * Runner-up: Gaby Koppel for ''Reparation'' (Honno Press) Shortlisted: * Georgy Alagiah for ''The Burning Land'' (

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 was n ...

) * Fiona Vigo Marshall for ''Find Me Falling'' (Fairlight Books) * Rosalind Stopps for ''Hello, My Name is May'' (HQ,

HarperCollins Publishing HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Co ...

) * Euan Cameron for ''Madeleine'' (

MacLehose Press Quercus is a formerly independent publishing house, based in London, that was acquired by Hodder & Stoughton in 2014. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Smith and Wayne Davies. Quercus is known for its lists in crime (publishing such authors as El ...

) 2019 * Winner: Anne Youngson for ''Meet Me at the Museum'' ( Doubleday Ireland) * Runner-up: Norma MacMaster for ''Silence Under A Stone'' ( Doubleday) Shortlisted: * Su Bristow for ''Sealskin'' (

Orenda Books Orenda Books is a British-based publishing house that publishes literary and crime fiction. The London-based publisher was established in 2014 and publishes debut and existing authors including Ragnar Jónasson, Thomas Enger, Michael Grothaus, Gun ...

) * Sheila Llewllyn for ''Walking Wounded'' (

Sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

) *

Sally Magnusson Sally Anne Magnusson (born 1955) is a Scottish broadcast journalist, television presenter and writer, who currently presents the Thursday and Friday night edition of BBC Scotland's ''Reporting Scotland''. She also presents ''Tracing Your Roots' ...

for ''The Sealwoman's Gift'' (

Two Roads Two Roads Books is an imprint of John Murray Press now a division of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Announced by its Publisher, Lisa Highton, in September 2010, Two Roads started publishing in 2011. Publishing 12-15 books a year, with ...

) * Heather Morris for ''The Tattooist of Auschwitz'' (

Zaffre Zaffre (also spelt Zaffer), a prescientific, or alchemical substance, is a deep blue pigment obtained by roasting cobalt ore, and is made of either an impure form of cobalt oxide or impure cobalt arsenate. During the Victorian Era, zaffre was us ...

)

References

External links

*
All of Paul Torday's novels published by OrionInterview with Torday
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torday, Paul 1946 births 2013 deaths 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British novelists Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford British male novelists People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne