Dan Rhodes

Dan Rhodes (born 1972) is an English writer known for the novel Timoleon Vieta Come Home (2003), a subversion of the popular Lassie Come Home movie. He is also the author of Anthropology (2000), a collection of 101 stories, each consisting of exactly 101 words. In 2010 he was awarded the E. M. Forster Award.[1]

Dan Rhodes
Born1972 (age 50–51)
EducationMA in creative writing
Alma materUniversity of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales)
Notable workTimoleon Vieta Come Home (2003)
Websitedanrhodes.co.uk

Biography

Rhodes grew up in Devon,[2] and graduated in Humanities from the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) in 1994, returning in 1997 to complete an MA in Creative Writing.[3] Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love was written at this time. He has held a variety of jobs, including stockroom assistant for Waterstone's, barman in his parents' pub, and a teacher in Ho Chi Minh City. He has also worked on a fruit and vegetable farm[4] and is still employed as a postman.[5]

Following the publication of his second book, Rhodes's frustration with the publishing industry led him to announce his retirement from writing, though he later said, "I haven't really given up. I'm certainly not making any more grand pronouncements. I was just sick of the business and wanted out. Not just the publishers; everyone around me."

Rhodes was included on Granta's Best of Young British Novelists list in 2003, to his own bemusement and frustration, partly because of Granta's selection methods ("It's one thing to judge a writer by stuff they've written, but to judge them on stuff they're going to write is lunacy") but also because some of the others on the list failed to respond to his request to sign a joint statement protesting the Iraq War.[6][7]

In 2014, Rhodes self-published the novel When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow, a "rural farce" about a visit to an obscure English village by a fictional Richard Dawkins, stating that he wanted to get the book out faster than conventional publishing allowed.[8] Traditional publishers were loath to publish the novel for fear of legal action from Professor Richard Dawkins, who is parodied in it. Rhodes appealed repeatedly to Dawkins, a defender of satire and free speech, for permission to "publish and be damned" but received no response. The novel was republished by Aardvark Bureau in October 2015.

In 2021, Lightning Books published his novel Sour Grapes, a satire on the literary world set at a rural book festival.[9]

Rhodes is married with two children.[6]

Bibliography

Collections
  • Anthropology: And a Hundred Other Stories (2000) ISBN 1-84195-614-7
  • Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love (2001) ISBN 1-84195-613-9
  • Marry Me (2013) ISBN 0-85786-849-7

Novels

References
  1. "BookBrunch - Home".
  2. Writer hopes readers give his new book a big hand Archived 16 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine, thisisderbyshire.co.uk.
  3. Volume 6 Issue 1 2010 of The Scottish Review of Books
  4. Evans, Lloyd. A writer's life: Dan Rhodes, The Daily Telegraph, 22 March 2003.
  5. Lee, Stewart. Episode 1 (0:33:45), Book Shambles with Robin Ince and Josie Long, 11 November 2015.
  6. Guest, Katy. Dan Rhodes: 'Revenge is why I write', The Independent, 7 February 2010.
  7. Gallix, Andrew. A small but satisfactory kick in Blair's nuts, 3ammagazine.com, July 2003.
  8. "The Professor is Landing". Dan Rhodes. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  9. "Londoner's Diary: Will Self's not sour about new literary incarnation | Evening Standard".
  10. "When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow, by Dan Rhodes | Gallic Books". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
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