Neil Gaiman (b.1960,) fully Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman, born Neil Richard Gaiman, is an English author of fantasy narratives that usually feature a darkly humorous tone. His works include short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films.
Born in Portchester, Hampshire, England, Gaiman worked as a freelance reporter before writing a biography of the pop music group Duran Duran in 1984. He collaborated with artist Dave McKean to produce the graphic novel Violent Cases (1987) and Black Orchid (1988.)
Gaiman is famous for The Sandman (s.1989) comic books. He chose different artists to draw the 75 issues, and he filled the series with references to myths, folklore, and literature, especially Shakespeare. Gaiman also wrote the novels Stardust (1999,) American Gods (2001,) and Coraline (2002.) He became the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008.)
Gaiman also wrote the collection of short stories Fragile Things (2006.) The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013) was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Neil Gaiman
You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.
—Neil Gaiman
Topics: Writing, Ideas
I’ve met these people, the ones from the glossy magazines. I’ve walked among them. I have seen, firsthand, their callow, empty lives. I have watched them from the shadows when they thought themselves alone. And I can tell you this: I’m afraid there is not one of them who would swap lives with you at gunpoint.
—Neil Gaiman
Topics: Rationality
Remember: When people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
—Neil Gaiman
Topics: Criticism
Let’s start a new tomorrow, today.
—Neil Gaiman
This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof.
—Neil Gaiman
Topics: Reality
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Edward Lear English Humorist, Illustrator
Eden Phillpotts English Author, Poet, Dramatist
Terry Pratchett English Fantasy Writer
Hanif Kureishi British Novelist, Screenwriter
Raymond Chandler American Novelist
John Fowles English Novelist
Anthony Burgess English Novelist, Critic
Laurence Housman English Novelist, Dramatist
J. R. R. Tolkien British Philologist, Writer
Douglas Adams British Author