Chris Cleave

Chris Cleave is an award-winning British novelist and journalist, whose work has been published in 20 languages. He is best known for his critically acclaimed and best-selling novels, Little Bee, Incendiary, and Gold.

Cleave was born in London in 1976. After studying English and drama at the University of Derby, he worked as a stand-up comedian before going on to write books. His first book was Incendiary, which was published in 2005. The book documents the impact of a terrorist act on a family, drawing on Cleave's own experiences of growing up in London in the wake of the terrorist attacks of the early 2000s. The book was selected for Richard and Judy's Book Club, then picked up by a major Hollywood studio and made into a film in 2008.

Cleave's follow-up book, Little Bee, was a major international bestseller and was shortlisted for the Costa Book of the Year in 2008. Little Bee is a powerful story of a young Nigerian refugee who escapes her dangerous homeland and is adopted by an upper-class British family. It was also made into a feature film in 2012.

Cleave's next novel, Gold, once again tackled emotive relationships between family members and the effects of war. It was shortlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His 2013 novel entitled Everyone Brave is Forgiven was also longlisted for the Booker Prize, while his 2016 novel The Other Hand pushed the envelope of the psychological thriller genre, gaining a great deal of critical acclaim.

Cleave's success has been recognised by numerous awards, including several honorary distinctions from the Queen, and he was also made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature in 2015. Aside from his own writing, Cleave also helps to support emerging authors, serving on the advisory board for the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction.

Cleave's writing has been described as "emotionally generous and profoundly relevant". He has a knack for creating emotionally charged and psychologically complex scenarios, often dipped in darkly comedic observations. He is renowned for his ability to tackle current affairs in a direct and compelling manner, rendering them into an audience-accessible format.

Though his recent books have already introduced and gained him a huge international following, readers will no doubt be eagerly awaiting what Cleave may have yet to offer. His works are highly recommended to anyone looking for an emotionally charged, insightful and thought-provoking read.