Born in Northampton, England, in 1962, author Mark Haddon attended Uppingham School. The son of an architect, whose early interest lay in Mathematics until he swerved into the Arts before graduating from Oxford with an English degree, Haddon’s father’s profession left him with an obsession with houses. After his studies, Haddon worked for a time as a carer for people with challenges and disabilities which gave him the experience of looking after patients with multiple sclerosis and autism that would influence his writing of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In addition to his carer role, Haddon was involved in cartoon strips, co-authoring one and illustrating for others.

He penned his first children’s book in 1987, Gilbert’s Gobstopper, and followed this with many other books and picture books, many of which he also illustrated. These include the ‘Agent Z’ series and the ‘Baby Dinosaurs’ series. From 1996 he worked on television projects and created and wrote several episodes for Microsoap, winning two BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society Award for this work.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was published in 2003 and has been very successful. It is the first book to have been published simultaneously in two imprints, one for children and one for adults. His second novel, A Spot of Bother, was published in 2006 and was shortlisted for the 2006 Costa Novel Award. His first book of poetry, ‘The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea’, was published in 2005. His latest books include the novels Boom! (2009), The Red House (2012), The Pier Falls (2016) and The Porpoise (2019). Mark Haddon teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and Oxford University.

Haddon says he is exhausted by talking about The Curious Incident novel and feels that it doesn’t belong to him anymore. He describes himself as a vegetarian and a hard-line atheist and lives in Oxford with his wife, Sos Eltis, a Fellow of Brasenose College in Oxford, and their two young sons.