Matt Haig

• Name — Matt Haig • Born — 3 July 1975 • Birthplace — Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England • Years Active — 2002–present • Education — University of Hull • Occupation — * Author • journalist • Genre — Speculative fiction • Children — 2 • Website — matthaig.com

Haig was born on 3 July 1975 in Sheffield. His mother, Mary worked as a primary school headteacher and his father Richard as an architect, who commuted to London for work. He grew up with his younger (by 3 years) sister, Phoebe Rose, in the Nottinghamshire town of Newark. He has admitted to minor shoplifting during his teenage years and has suffered subsequent guilt from the petty crime, which included the theft of a tennis ball. He went on to study English and History at the University of Hull.

Haig is the author of both fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. His work of non-fiction, Reasons to Stay Alive, was a number one Sunday Times bestseller and was in the UK top 10 for 46 weeks. His children's novel, A Boy Called Christmas, was adapted for film which was produced by StudioCanal and Blueprint Pictures. His novels are often dark and quirky takes on family life. The Last Family in England retells Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 with the protagonists as dogs. His second novel The Dead Fathers Club is based on Hamlet, telling the story of an introspective 11-year-old dealing with the recent death of his father and the subsequent appearance of his father's ghost. His third adult novel, The Possession of Mr Cave, deals with an obsessive father desperately trying to keep his teenage daughter safe. His children's novel, Shadow Forest, is a fantasy that begins with the horrific death of the protagonists' parents. It won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize in 2007. He followed it with the sequel, Runaway Troll, in 2008. Haig's vampire novel The Radleys was published in 2011. In 2013, he published The Humans. It is the story of an alien who takes the identity of a university lecturer whose work in mathematics threatens the stability of the planet who must also cope with the home life which accompanies his task. In 2017, Haig published How to Stop Time, a novel about a man who appears to be 40 but has, in fact, lived for more than 400 years and has met Shakespeare, Captain Cook and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In an interview with The Guardian, Haig revealed the book has been optioned by StudioCanal films, and Benedict Cumberbatch had been "lined up to star" in the film adaptation. Reasons to Stay Alive won the Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards in 2016 and How to Stop Time was nominated in 2017. In August 2018, he wrote lyrics for English singer and songwriter Andy Burrows's music album, the title of which was derived from Haig's book Reasons to Stay Alive. In 2020, Matt Haig released his novel The Midnight Library about a young woman who is unhappy with her choices in life. During the night she tries to kill herself but ends up in a library managed by her school librarian. The library is between life and death with millions of books filled with stories of her life had she made some decisions differently. In this library, she then tries to find the life in which she's the most content. It was shortlisted for the 2021 British Book Awards "Fiction book of the year". The Midnight Library was adapted for radio and broadcast in ten episodes on BBC Radio 4 in December 2020. In 2021, Haig appeared on Storybound, accompanied by an original score from Robert Wynia. The Comfort Book was released on 1 July 2021. The Life Impossible was published in 2024 about Grace, a recent widow who unexpectedly inherits a house in Ibiza and after travelling there she discovers she has superpowers. She sets out to solve the mystery of her old acquaintance's death. A review described it as magic realism and a wise and moving novel. The Midnight Train, a spiritual followup to The Midnight Library, was released in May 2026.

Haig married Andrea Semple whom he knew since they were teenagers, and they live in Brighton, Sussex, with their two children and a dog. Haig is an atheist. He has said that books are his faith, and the library is his church. Some of Haig's work — especially part of the non-fiction books — is inspired by the mental breakdown he had when he was 24 years old. He still occasionally has anxiety. He has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

• The Last Family in England (Jonathan Cape, 2004); US title, The Labrador Pact • The Dead Fathers Club (Cape, 2006) • The Possession of Mr Cave (The Bodley Head, 2008) • The Radleys (Canongate Books, 2010) • The Humans (Canongate Books, 2013) • How to Stop Time (Canongate Books, 2017) • The Midnight Library (Canongate Books, 2020) • Tales of Connection (Van Ditmar 2021), a selection of stories from Notes on a Nervous Planet, The Comfort Book and Reasons to Stay Alive. • The Life Impossible (Canongate Books, 2024) • The Midnight Train (Canongate Books, 2026)

• How Come You Don't Have An E-Strategy (Kogan Page, 2002) • Brand Failures (Kogan Page, 2003) • Brand Royalty (Kogan Page, 2004) • Brand Success (Kogan Page, 2011) • Reasons to Stay Alive (Canongate Books, 2015) • Notes on a Nervous Planet (Canongate Books, 2018) • The Comfort Book (Canongate Books, 2021)

Matt Haig is recorded with the occupation science fiction writer. Recorded with the occupation business consultant. Recorded as writer, journalist, novelist and business consultant.