Simon Van Booy

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Simon Van Booy
Simonvanbooy.jpg
Simon Van Booy in 2011.
Born1975 (age 4849)
Education Dartington College of Arts; Southampton College
OccupationAuthor
Website SimonVanBooy.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]

Contents

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 Simonvanbooy.jpg
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

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References

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  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.
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  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.
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  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.
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  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.
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  27. Night Came with Many Stars, by By Simon Van Booy. | Booklist Online.
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  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.
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