Simon Van Booy
Simon Van Booy in 2011.
Born1975 (age 48–49)
EducationDartington College of Arts; Southampton College
OccupationAuthor
WebsiteSimonVanBooy.com

Simon Van Booy (born 1975) is an Anglo-American writer, currently living in the United States. His short story collection, Love Begins in Winter, won the 2009 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. He was a finalist for the 2011 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise.[1]

Fiction

Simon Van Booy has written three collections of short stories. The first was The Secret Lives of People in Love; the second collection, Love Begins in Winter, won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.[2][3] His third collection, Tales of Accidental Genius, was released in 2015.[4]

Van Booy's first novel, Everything Beautiful Began After, was released in 2011, and was nominated for the 2012 Indies Choice Book Award for Fiction,[5] while his second novel, The Illusion of Separateness, was released in 2013. He released a third novel titled Father's Day in 2016.[6]

Van Booy's fourth novel, Night Came with Many Stars, was released in 2021. NPR Books review Jason Sheehan called it Van Booy's best novel to date, writing “It is a heartbreaking book, a gorgeous book . . . In Night, Van Booy finds the weakness, grace and beauty of common lives fully lived.” [7] Boston Globe columnist Joan Frank wrote “Kindness and raw luck undergird Night Came with Many Stars… And like Dickens’s young heroes, Van Booy’s determined souls act with their whole hearts—as does this brave, fierce novel—to earn what good may come.” [8] USA Today named Night Came with Many Stars to a list of “5 Books Not to Miss.” [9]

In 2010, Van Booy released his first children's book, Pobble's Way,[10] to be followed by Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things in 2017.[11]

Other works

Simon Van Booy, New York, 2011

Van Booy is the editor of three volumes of philosophy, entitled Why We Fight, Why We Need Love, and Why Our Decisions Don't Matter.[12]

Van Booy's essays have been published in newspapers internationally, including The New York Times,[13] The New York Post, The Daily Telegraph,[14] The Guardian,[15] and The Times.[16] They have also been broadcast on National Public Radio.[17]

In 2011, Van Booy delivered his first full-length stage comedy, and wrote an award-winning short film for the Morgans Hotel Group called Love Is Like Life But Longer.[18]

Teaching and lecturing

Van Booy lectures frequently at schools, universities, and libraries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in China. He teaches part-time at the School of Visual Arts in New York City,[19] and at Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus.[20] He is an advocate of education as a means of social reform, and involved in the Rutgers University Early College Humanities program (REaCH) for young adults living in under-served communities.[21]

Design

Since 2009, Partners & Spade have carried Van Booy's "custom vintage Antarctic explorers' skis,"[22] and cold-weather hats, which he designed to support research in Antarctic regions and raise awareness for the Scott Polar Research Institute at University of Cambridge.

In translation

Van Booy's fiction and essays have been translated into over eighteen languages throughout the world. In 2011 he embarked on a multiple city reading tour of China, where his books are available in two different varieties of Chinese.[23]

Criticism

His short story collections received positive reviews from The New York Times[24] and the Los Angeles Times[25]

Publishers Weekly gave The Illusion of Separateness a starred review, and said "the writing is what makes this remarkable book soar".[26]

Booklist, the publication of the American Library Association, praised Van Booy's fourth novel, Night Came with Many Stars, writing “A beautifully realized, multigenerational family novel that is exceptional for its memorable, fully developed characters. Readers will become emotionally invested…invited to consider the meaning of family and the power of memory.” [27]

Personal life

Van Booy grew up in Ruthin and Oxford,[2][28] and currently resides in New York.[29] He has one daughter, and married Christina Daigneault in 2013.[30][31]

List of works

  • 2002: Love & The Five Senses won the H.R. Hays Poetry Prize
  • 2007: The Secret Lives of People in Love
  • 2009: Love Begins in Winter won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award
  • 2010: Pobble's Way won Society of School Librarians International Honor Book Award
  • 2011: Why We Need Love
  • 2011: Why Our Decisions Don't Matter
  • 2011: Why We Fight
  • 2011: Everything Beautiful Began After
  • 2012: The Illusion of Separateness
  • 2015: Tales of Accidental Genius: Stories
  • 2016: Father’s Day
  • 2017: Gertie Milk & the Keeper of Lost Things
  • 2018: Gertie Milk & the Great Keeper Rescue
  • 2018: The Sadness of Beautiful Things
  • 2021: Night Came with Many Stars
  • 2022: The Presence of Absence

References

  1. ↑ "The Vilcek Foundation - 2011". Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 Grice, Bonnie (21 June 2010). "Save as Many as you Ruin". Prospect Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Flood, Alison (21 September 2009). "Simon Van Booy wins world's richest short story prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Tales of Accidental Genius by Simon Van Booy Review". pastemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "Winners of the 2012 Indies Choice and E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards Announced | American Booksellers Association". bookweb.org. 4 April 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: Father's Day by Simon Van Booy". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  7. ↑ Sheehan, Jason (10 June 2021). "This Family Saga Finds Grace And Beauty In Ordinary Lives, Fully Lived". NPR.org. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "Family histories, unspooled over time, in 'Night Came With Many Stars' - The Boston Globe". www.bostonglobe.com. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "USA TODAY". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Children's Book Reviews - Pobble's Way by Simon Van Booy". The Reading Tub Childrens Book Reviews. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "Random House for High School Teachers | Catalog - Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things by Simon Van Booy". www.randomhouse.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Five things: Practical philosophy". The Economist. 12 August 2010. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017.
  13. ↑ Van Booy, Simon (28 June 2009). "Raising a Princess Single-Handedly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Van Booy, Simon (17 August 2009). "Childhood: a fleeting beauty not to be missed". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010.
  15. ↑ Van Booy, Simon (19 December 2009). "Simon Van Booy: Love and loss at Christmas". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion". thetimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Tasting The Flavors of Life As Only 'George' Could : NPR". npr.org. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  18. ↑ Miller, Ken. "Poppy de Villeneuve's Elevator Love Letter". The Elevator Love Letter. Interview Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  19. ↑ "SVA > Student Resources > Course Finder". Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Department of English". Archived from the original on 28 August 2001. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "Newark high school students are first graduates of Rutgers early college program". nj.com. 26 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  22. ↑ "Partners & Spade Custom Vintage Skis". acquiremag.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  23. ↑ Yueran, Zhang. "Literature Events for March". Stories about love: Simon Van Booy in conversation with Zhang Yueran. British Council. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  24. ↑ Schillinger, Liesl (17 December 2010). "Turning the Pages on 2010: Books of Style". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
  25. ↑ "Discoveries". Los Angeles Times. 20 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009.
  26. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  27. ↑ Night Came with Many Stars, by By Simon Van Booy. | Booklist Online.
  28. ↑ "Interview with Simon Van Booy, winner of world's richest short story prize". walesonline. 12 December 2009. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  29. ↑ Van Booy, Simon. "Simon van Booy on "The Song Is You" with Bonnie Grice". The Song Is You with Bonnie Grice. prx.org. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  30. ↑ Laskey, Margaux (5 July 2013). "A Life Graced With Love Letters and Notes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  31. ↑ "Claire Keegan & Simon Van Booy in conversation". Irish Writers Centre - Dublin, Ireland. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

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