Editing Mark Haddon (section)

==Life, work and studies==

In 2003, Haddon won the [[Whitbread Book Awards|Whitbread Book of the Year Award]]—in the Novels rather than Children's Books category—for ''[[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]''. He also won the [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] in the Best First Book category, as ''The Curious Incident'' was considered his first book written for adults.<ref name=powells/> Despite being categorized as an adult book for some awards, Haddon also won the [[Guardian Children's Fiction Prize]] in 2003 for the book.<ref name=prize2003/> The book was also long-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize. <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/aug/15/bookerprize2003.thebookerprize|title=Booker longlist includes Amis, snubs Carey|last=Jordan|first=Justine|date=2003-08-15|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-01|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> It was adapted as a stage play and was successful for a long run.

''The Curious Incident'' is written from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy, Christopher John Francis Boone. In an interview at [[Powells.com]], Haddon claimed that this was the first book that he wrote intentionally for an adult audience; he was surprised when his publisher suggested marketing it to both adult and child audiences (it has been very successful with adults and children alike).<ref name="powells">Dave (10 October 2006), [http://www.powells.com/blog/interviews/the-curiously-irresistible-literary-debut-of-mark-haddon-by-dave "The curiously irresistible literary debut of Mark Haddon"], ''Powells.com''. Retrieved 31 August 2011.</ref> However, it has also been criticised by some autistic readers who objected to its 'depressing' depiction of Christopher, the autistic protagonist.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-04-03 |title=I have autism and the lack of authentic autistic voices in books angers me |url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/apr/03/autism-voices-books-awareness-week|first=Sara |last=Barrett |access-date=2024-09-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Haddon's short story "The Pier Falls" was longlisted for the 2015 [[Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award]], the richest prize in the world for a single short story.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/stefg/article1512207.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207014107/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/stefg/article1512207.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 February 2015 |title=World's Richest Story Prize |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=1 February 2015}}</ref> He published a collection of short stories inspired by classical mythology called ''Dogs and Monsters'' in 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Alex|author-link=Alex Clark (journalist) |date=2024-08-25 |title=Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon review – myth and legend refocused in deft short stories |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/25/dogs-and-monsters-by-mark-haddon-review-myth-and-legend-refocused-in-deft-short-stories |access-date=2024-09-04 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

In 2023, he turned down an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for his services to literature, saying: 'I would feel uneasy accepting an honour which presumes an uncritical acceptance of the British Empire as a good thing.'<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haddon |first=Mark |date=2024-07-03 |title=Mark Haddon: why I turned down an OBE |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024/07/mark-haddon-why-i-turned-down-an-obe |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref>