Stephen May (novelist)

Stephen May (born 1964) is a British novelist, playwright and TV writer.[1][2][3][4]

Biography

Born in 1964, May grew up in Bedford and was educated at Bedford Modern School and the University of Essex.[2][5][6][7]

After university, May was variously a barman, warehouseman, museum attendant, television writer and teacher.[1] He had his first child while still at college after which he spent several years of struggle to support his family.[1] This period of his life ‘largely informs his writing, and permeates through his first novel’ TAG which was on the 2009 Wales Book of the Year Long List.[1] The book also won the Media Wales Peoples Choice award.

May's second novel, Life! Death! Prizes! was published in 2012 and shortlisted for the 2012 Costa Book Awards.[2][8] The novel is narrated by Billy, a mixed-up teenager, struggling to raise his little brother after the death of their mother.[2][9] It earned May comparisons to Dave Eggers and J.D. Salinger.[2]

In 2014, May published his latest novel, Wake Up Happy Every Day.[2][10] The Independent on Sunday's review of the book stated: “He riffs entertainingly on failure … Talk of misspent youth, assassins and obstreperous protagonists belies the emotional core which makes May's books moving”.[11]

Interviewed by The Independent in 2014, May commented: “This country’s spirit is in places like Bedford, where I grew up, Kettering and Ipswich. The type of men I write about live outside big cities, lack self-confidence and rarely feature in contemporary fiction. Even Nick Hornby's characters are more sorted than mine."[2]

In 2016 it was announced that Sandstone Press will publish his fourth novel Stronger Than Skin in spring 2017.

Bibliography

Novels
  • Wake Up Happy Every Day. Published by Bloomsbury, New York City, 2014[12][13]
  • Life! Death! Prizes! Published by Bloomsbury, London, 2012[13][14]
  • TAG. Published by Cinnamon Press, Blaenau Ffestiniog, 2008[13][15]
  • Stronger Than Skin. Published by Sandstone Academic Press, 2017[16]

Plays
  • The Reverse Is Also True (2015)[17]
  • The Valuation (2011)[17]
  • Ven Y Va (2010)[17]
  • Still Waiting For Everything (2005)[17]
  • Back The World (2003)[17]

Textbooks
  • Get Started in Creative Writing. Published by Hodder & Staughton, London, 2014[18]
  • Write A Novel And Get It Published. Published by Teach Yourself, London, 2012[19]

References
  1. "MAY, STEPHEN - List of Writers". literaturewales.org. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  2. "Stephen May: 'My stories say things that are not being said'". The Independent. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  3. "Stephen May". sdmay.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  4. "Bloomsbury - Stephen May - Stephen May". www.bloomsbury.com.
  5. Eagle News, Vol 5 No 4 (Issue 105) May 2012, p.115
  6. "Stephen May: , and a List of Books by Author Stephen May". paperbackswap.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  7. https://obms.bedmod.co.uk/design/pdfs/Eagle%20News%200512.pdf
  8. Shena Mackay. "Life! Death! Prizes! by Stephen May – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  9. Stephen May. "LIFE! DEATH! PRIZES!". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  10. Ciuraru, Carmela (24 December 2014). "Newly Released Books" – via NYTimes.com.
  11. "Wake Up Happy Every Day". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  12. Wake up happy every day. worldcat.org. January 2014. ISBN 9781408840740. OCLC 870517070. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  13. "Stephen May". sdmay.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  14. "Life! Death! Prizes!". worldcat.org. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  15. TAG. worldcat.org. OCLC 233788923. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  16. Stronger Than Skin. 26 January 2017. OCLC 1026702908 – via Open WorldCat.
  17. "Stephen May". sdmay.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  18. Get started in creative writing. worldcat.org. OCLC 898376961. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  19. Write a novel and get it published. worldcat.org. OCLC 827950756. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
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