Andrew O'Hagan

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Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish writer and novelist. He was selected by the literary magazine Granta for inclusion in their 2003 list of the top 20 young British novelists.

[edit] Life and career

Andrew O'Hagan was born in Glasgow, Scotland and grew up in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire. He studied at the University of Strathclyde before joining the staff of the London Review of Books, one of the UK's leading literary publications. His Irish Catholic grandfather deserted during WWII, and abandoned his family as well.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, he published his first book, The Missing, to considerable critical acclaim. A genre-crossing book which explored the lives of people who have gone missing in Britain and the families that they left behind, The Missing was shortlisted for three literary awards.

O'Hagan's debut novel Our Fathers (1999) was also nominated for a raft of awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award, and the IMPAC Literary Award. His next novel Personality (2003) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. His third novel, Be Near Me, was published in August 2006 by Faber and Faber (see [1]), to outstanding reviews and long-listed for the year's Booker Prize.

O'Hagan has also published non-fiction and edited a number of literary compilations. He is a contributing editor to both the LRB and Granta, and writes occasional articles for the mainstream press. In 2001, he was named as a Goodwill Ambassador by the UK branch of UNICEF, and he has since been involved in fundraising efforts for the organization.

O'Hagan lives in London with his girlfriend, the journalist and author India Knight; they have a daughter.