Gerard Woodward

Gerard Woodward (born 4 December 1961 in Enfield, London) is a British novelist, poet and short story writer, best known for his trilogy of novels concerning the troubled Jones family, the second of which, I'll Go to Bed at Noon, was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. As of April 2024, he is a professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University.

Gerard Woodward
Born	(1961-12-04) 4 December 1961 (age 63) Enfield, London, England
Education	London School of Economics (BSc), University of Greenwich (CertEd), University of Manchester (PgD)
Notable works	August (2001) I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004)
Notable awards	Somerset Maugham Award (1992) Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (2014)

Early life and education

Woodward was born in Enfield, London on 4 December 1961 to Reginald L. and Sylvia Woodward (née Walsh).^[1] He had four younger siblings. In 1981, his brother Francis died after being struck by a train while drunk. His mother died shortly after.^[2]

Woodward attended St Ignatius College, a Jesuit comprehensive school, leaving at 16 to work for two years in a variety of jobs. He later studied painting at Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall, though dropped out in his second year. Woodward ultimately received a Bachelor of Science Honours in social anthropology from London School of Economics,^[2] a Certificate in Education from the University of Greenwich, and a postgraduate diploma in social anthropology from the University of Manchester.^[3] In 2019, Woodward received an Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University.^{[citation needed]}

Career

In 1989, Woodward won a Eric Gregory Award for poets under 30.^[4] He published his first poetry collection, Householder, in 1991; it won the year's Somerset Maugham Award.^[2] His later poetry collections include After the Deafening (1994); Island to Island (1999); We Were Pedestrians (2005); and The Seacunny (2012). In 2001, he published his first novel, August, which was the first in a trilogy, followed by I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004) and A Curious Earth (2007). August was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Award, and I'll Go to Bed at Noon was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.^[2][5][6] Woodward has since published the short story collection Caravan Thieves (2008) and the novels Nourishment (2010) and Vanishing (2014).^[5]

Woodward has been a writer-in-residence at Columbia College Chicago (2011) and the Stockholm University (2013).^[3] He has taught or been a writer in residence in many countries including China, Greece, Sweden, Slovenia and Ireland.^{[citation needed]} Since 2004, Woodward has worked in the creative writing department at Bath Spa University;^[1] as of April 2024, he runs the Ph.D. programme with Tracy Brain.^[3] He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2005.^[7]

Awards and honors

In 1989, Woodward won the Eric Gregory Award for poets under age 30.^[1][4] He received an Arts Council England bursary for poetry in 1994 and for fiction in 1999.^[1] He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2005.^[7]

Householder (1991) and After The Deafening (1994) have been Poetry Book Society Choice books.^{[citation needed]}

Awards for Woodward's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1992	Householder	Somerset Maugham Award	Winner	[1][2][5]
1992	Householder	John Llewellyn-Rhys Memorial Prize		[5]
1994	After the Deafening	T. S. Eliot Prize	Shortlist
2001	August	Whitbread Award for First Novel	Shortlist	[2][5]
2004	I'll Go to Bed at Noon	Man Booker Prize for Fiction	Shortlist	[2][5][6][8]
2004		Encore Award	Shortlist	[5]
2005	We Were Pedestrians	T. S. Eliot Prize	Shortlist	[5]
2011		Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award	Shortlist	[5]
2014	Vanishing	Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize	Winner	[9][10]
2017		O. Henry Award
2018	The Paper Lovers	Bad Sex in Fiction	Shortlist	[11]

Personal life

Woodward met his wife Suzanne Jane Anderson while studying at Falmouth School of Art.^[2] He has two children: Corin and Phoebe.^[1]

Bibliography

Poetry

• The Unwriter & Other Poems (1989)
• Householder (1991), ISBN 0-7011-3758-4
• After the Deafening (1994), ISBN 0-7011-6271-6
• Island to Island (1999), ISBN 0-7011-6869-2
• We Were Pedestrians (2005), ISBN 0-7011-7887-6
• The Seacunny (2012)
• The Vulture (2022)

Fiction

• August (2001), ISBN 0-7011-7111-1
• I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004), ISBN 0-7011-7118-9
• A Curious Earth (2007)
• Caravan Thieves (short stories; 2008)
• Nourishment (2010; published as Letters from an Unknown Woman in the US)
• Vanishing (2014)
• Legoland (short stories; 2016), ISBN 978-1447288671
• The Paper Lovers (2018)