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]

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][7] The novel is narrated by Billy, a mixed-up teenager, struggling to raise his little brother after the death of their mother.[2][8] 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][9] 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”.[10]

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[11][12]
  • Life! Death! Prizes! Published by Bloomsbury, London, 2012[12][13]
  • TAG. Published by Cinnamon Press, Blaenau Ffestiniog, 2008[12][14]
  • Stronger Than Skin. Published by Sandstone Academic Press, 2017[15]

Plays

  • The Reverse Is Also True (2015)[16]
  • The Valuation (2011)[16]
  • Ven Y Va (2010)[16]
  • Still Waiting For Everything (2005)[16]
  • Back The World (2003)[16]

Textbooks

  • Get Started in Creative Writing. Published by Hodder & Staughton, London, 2014[17]
  • Write A Novel And Get It Published. Published by Teach Yourself, London, 2012[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "MAY, STEPHEN - List of Writers". literaturewales.org. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Stephen May: 'My stories say things that are not being said'". The Independent. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. 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. ↑ Shena Mackay (18 May 2012). "Life! Death! Prizes! by Stephen May – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Stephen May. "LIFE! DEATH! PRIZES!". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Ciuraru, Carmela (24 December 2014). "Newly Released Books". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ "Wake Up Happy Every Day". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  11. ↑ Wake up happy every day. worldcat.org. January 2014. ISBN 9781408840740. OCLC 870517070. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 "Stephen May". sdmay.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Life! Death! Prizes!. worldcat.org. OCLC 823892395. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  14. ↑ TAG. worldcat.org. OCLC 233788923. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  15. ↑ Stronger Than Skin. 26 January 2017. OCLC 1026702908 – via Open WorldCat.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stephen May". sdmay.com. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  17. ↑ Get started in creative writing. worldcat.org. OCLC 898376961. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Write a novel and get it published. worldcat.org. OCLC 827950756. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
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