Adam Foulds
Adam Samuel James Foulds FRSL (born 8 October 1974) is a British novelist and poet.
Also recorded as Adam Samuel James Foulds
Adam Foulds

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- Name
- Adam Foulds
- Birth Name
- Adam Samuel James Foulds
- Born
- 8 October 1974
- Birthplace
- London, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- poet, novelist
- Education
- Master's degree
- Spouse
- Charla Jones
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Honours
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature · European Union Prize for Literature · Somerset Maugham Award · Encore Award
- Languages
- English
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Adam Samuel James Foulds FRSL (born 8 October 1974) is a British novelist and poet.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Adam Foulds studied at St Catherine's College, University of East Anglia and Bancrofts School. The recorded working language is English. Distinctions recorded are Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, European Union Prize for Literature, Somerset Maugham Award and Encore Award.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Adam Foulds • Honorific Suffix — FRSL • Birth Name — Adam Samuel James Foulds • Born — 8 October 1974 • Birthplace — London, United Kingdom • Occupation — poet, novelist • Language — English • Education — Master's degree • Alma Mater — St Catherine's College, Oxford University of East Anglia • Spouse — Charla Jones • Years Active — 2007–present
Biography
Biography
Foulds was educated at Bancroft's School, read English at St Catherine's College, Oxford under Craig Raine, and graduated with an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia in 2001. In 2007, Foulds published his first book, The Truth About These Strange Times. The novel, which is set in the present day, is concerned in part with the World Memory Championships. In 2008, Foulds published a substantial narrative poem entitled The Broken Word, described by the critic Peter Kemp as a "verse novella". It is a fictional version of some events during the Mau Mau Uprising. Writing in The Guardian, David Wheatley suggested that "The Broken Word is a moving and pitiless depiction of the world as it is rather than as we might like it to be, and the terrible things we do to defend our place in it". In 2009, his novel The Quickening Maze was published. Recommending the work in a 'books of the year' survey, novelist Julian Barnes declared: 'Having last year greatly admired Adam Foulds's long poem "The Broken Word", I uncharitably wondered whether his novel The Quickening Maze (Cape) might allow me to tacitly advise him to stick to verse. Some hope: this story of the Victorian lunatic asylum where the poet John Clare and Tennyson's brother Septimus were incarcerated is the real thing. It's not a "poetic novel" either, but a novelistic novel, rich in its understanding and representation of the mad, the sane, and that large overlapping category in between'. On 7 January 2010, he was published on the Guardian's "Over by Over" (OBO) coverage of day five of the Third Test of the South Africa v England series at Newlands, Cape Town. Foulds's published email corrected the OBO writer, Andy Bull, who, in the 77th over, posted lines by Donne in reference to Ian Ronald Bell in verse form: "No doubt I won't be the first pedant to let you know that the Donne you quote is in fact from a prose meditation. The experiment in retrofitting twentieth century free verse technique to it is interesting but the line breaks shouldn't really be there." In 2013 he was included in the Granta list of 20 best young writers. He currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, after marrying Canadian photographer Charla Jones.
Identity
Identity
Adam Foulds is recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom. Recorded with the occupation novelist. Established in Library of Congress under nb2007023692. Recognition and collections. Foulds received Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, European Union Prize for Literature, Somerset Maugham Award and Encore Award.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1974–2011
The full dated record · 7 entries
1974
Adam Foulds was born on 1 January 1974.
2009
Receives Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
2009
Receives Somerset Maugham Award.
2009
Adam Foulds received Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009.
2009
Adam Foulds received Somerset Maugham Award in 2009.
2011
Receives European Union Prize for Literature.
2011
Adam Foulds received European Union Prize for Literature in 2011.
Reception
How Adam Foulds was received and recognised. Foulds received Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009. Foulds received European Union Prize for Literature in 2011. Foulds received Somerset Maugham Award in 2009. Foulds received Encore Award.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Adam Foulds”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
institutional register
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4679075: Adam Foulds
General reference · Wikimedia Foundation
Awards and honours
• Year — Nominated work — Award — Category — Result • 2007 — The Truth About These Strange Times — Betty Trask Award — — • Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award — — • 2008 — The Broken Word — John Llewellyn Rhys Prize — — • Costa Book Awards — Poetry • 2009 — Somerset Maugham Award — — • Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award — — • The Quickening Maze — Booker Prize — — • Encore Award — — • 2010 — Walter Scott Prize — — • Himself — Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature — — — Honored • 2011 — The Quickening Maze — European Union Prize for Literature — — • 2013 — — — Granta Best of Young British Novelists (Granta) — — • 2015 — In the Wolf's Mouth — Walter Scott Prize — — • 2019 — Dream Sequence — Giller Prize — — — Longlisted
Selected bibliography
• 2007: The Truth About These Strange Times • 2008: The Broken Word • 2009: The Quickening Maze • 2014: In the Wolf's Mouth • 2019: Dream Sequence
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Wikidata, structured authority record Q4679075: Adam FouldsWikimedia Foundation
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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