Paul Torday
Paul Torday (1 August 1946 – 18 December 2013) was a British writer and the author of the comic novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The book was the winner of the 2007 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing and was serialised on BBC Radio 4. It won the Waverton Good Read Award in 2008.
Also recorded as Paul Laszlo Torday
Paul Torday
- Born
- 1946 · County Durham.
- Died
- 2013 · Northumberland.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- writer
- Education
- Pembroke College · Royal Grammar School
- Honours
- Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Paul Torday (1 August 1946 – 18 December 2013) was a British writer and the author of the comic novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The book was the winner of the 2007 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing and was serialised on BBC Radio 4. It won the Waverton Good Read Award in 2008.
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Paul Torday (1946–2013) was a writer, of British nationality. The writer was born in County Durham and died in Northumberland. Paul Torday was educated at Pembroke College and Royal Grammar School.
Languages used include English. Honours include Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Life
Life
It was made into a 2011 feature film of the same name, starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.
Born in 1946 in Croxdale, County Durham, north-east England, and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Pembroke College, Oxford, Paul Torday turned to fiction writing only later in life, and his first novel was published at the age of 59. Prior to that, he was a successful businessman living in Northumberland. The inspiration for the novel stemmed from Torday's interest in both fly fishing and the Middle East. From these two strands, he weaves a political satire that centres on the world of political spin management. His second novel, The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce (titled Bordeaux in the United States), is about a man who drinks himself to death. In 2008, Torday was shortlisted for his debut novel as Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards. Torday's third book, The Girl on the Landing, was published in 2009. This novel deals principally with themes of schizophrenia and racism. His son Piers Torday is a children's writer.
Novels
Novels
Torday's novels include: • (2006) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen • (2008) The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce • (2009) The Girl on the Landing • (2010) The Hopeless Life of Charlie Summers • (2011) More Than You Can Say • (2011) Breakfast at Hotel Déjà vu • (2012) Theo • (2012) The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall • (2013) Light Shining in the Forest • (2016) The Death of an Owl
Places
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County Durham.
Birth place
Northumberland.
Death place
The Paul Torday Memorial Prize
Paul Torday published his first novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen aged 60. The family decided to set up this new prize in Torday's honour in 2019, celebrating first novels by authors aged 60 or over. This prize is administered by the Society of Authors. 2019 • Winner: Anne Youngson for Meet Me at the Museum (Doubleday Ireland) • Runner-up: Norma MacMaster for Silence Under a Stone (Doubleday) Shortlisted: • Su Bristow for Sealskin (Orenda Books) • Sheila Llewllyn for Walking Wounded (Sceptre) • Sally Magnusson for The Sealwoman's Gift (Two Roads) • Heather Morris for The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Zaffre) 2020 • Winner: Donald Murray for As the Woman Lay Dreaming (Saraband) • Runner-up: Gaby Koppel for Reparation (Honno Press) Shortlisted: • George Alagiah for The Burning Land (Canongate Books) • Fiona Vigo Marshall for Find Me Falling (Fairlight Books) • Rosalind Stopps for Hello, My Name Is May (HQ, HarperCollins Publishing) • Euan Cameron for Madeleine (MacLehose Press) 2021 • Winner: Kathy O'Shaghnessey for In Love With George Elliot (Scribe UK) • Runner-up: Karen Raney for All The Water In The World (John Murray Two Roads) Shortlisted: • Elfan Jones for Let Sleeping Dogs Lie • Judith Amanthis for Dirt Clean • Trevor Wood for The Man On The Street 2022 • Winner: Jane Fraser for Advent (Honno Press) • Runner-up: Michael Mallon for The Disciple (Zuleika) Shortlisted: • John Fletcher for Wuhan (Head of Zeus) • Anthony English for Death of a Coast Watcher (Monsoon Books) • Yvonne Bailey-Smith for The Day I Fell Off My Island (Myriad Editions) 2023 • Winner: Bonnie Garmus for Lessons In Chemistry (Doubleday) • Runner-up: Julie Owen Moylan for That Green Eyed Girl (Penguin Random House) Shortlisted: • Reverend Richard Coles for Murder Before Evensong (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) • Tony Curtis for Darkness In The City Of light (Seren Books) • Jonathan Franklin for Red Rose Green (Sparsile Books)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Paul Torday”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q949363: Paul Torday
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Langdon, Julia. Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, dies aged 67. The Guardian. 19 December 2013.
- 2.Lea, Richard. A real pig's cheer. The Guardian. 3 May 2007.
- 3.Irvine, Lindesay. The Galaxy British Book Awards shortlists are announced. The Guardian. 13 March 2008.
- 4.Torday, Piers. Piers Torday: finishing his father's last novel. The Guardian. 7 May 2016.
- 5.Fantasticfiction.co.uk. Paul Torday.
- 6.News Paul Torday Memorial Prize. The Society of Authors. 1 June 2022.
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