Benjamin Wood (writer)

Benjamin Wood (writer) Benjamin Wood (born 1981) is a British academic and novelist. His first novel won France's Prix du roman Fnac in 2014. Quotes I tend to read a lot of life stories of artists or creative people who I find inspiring. With this, I was reading about Alasdair Gray and Francis Bacon and John Craxton. I tried to find ways to appropriate elements of their lives and create a viable character of my own.I try to build a character out of found materials and my own personal reflections, to mould them into something that’s believable and authentic — as authentic as fiction can be, anyway. as quoted by Andrew Youngson in: “You know it's been a great writing day when it's 4pm and you haven't eaten”: Benjamin Wood on writing The Ecliptic https://perspectives.blogs.bbk.ac.uk/2015/09/30/you-know-its-been-a-great-writing-day-when-its-4pm-and-you-havent-eaten-benjamin-wood-on-writing-the-ecliptic/ 30 September 2015 Birkbeck Perspectives I do a lot of thinking about the arc of the story before I begin—who the Character (arts) characters are at the beginning, who they will become by the end—but I never have a rigid plan. Instead, I do the plot-making equivalent of looking up the journey on the map before I set off, noting where all the important junctions and turn-offs are, then putting the map in the glovebox; and if I happen to encounter a more direct or scenic route along the way, or if any landmarks I thought I would stop and see get bypassed, then I don’t worry too much about it—as long as the journey is interesting and I reach my intended destination. Then I go back and delete all the tiresome road travel metaphors I’ve put in. as quoted by Sally Whitehill, Interview with Benjamin Wood 2022 sallywhitehill.com https://www.sallywhitehill.com/blog/benjaminwood I’ve always been a relentlessly creative person. Creativity has saved me from mental trauma. I’ve always been amazed at how a piece of music, a feat of architecture or a picture could move me. I have looked into what the origins of creativity might be, whether there’s a scientific explanation for it, or whether it’s something less knowable. And since there’s no definitive answer to it, it’s grown more compelling. I also find it difficult to write about characters who don’t have an instinct to create something. I always want to write about people who are looking to add more to the world than they’re taking from it. as quoted by Rutvik Bhandari in: Benjamin Wood: “Creativity has saved me from mental trauma”.The author of the Booker-longlisted Seascraper on his working class protagonists, his approach to writing, and being inspired by American fiction September 20, 2025 https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/benjamin-wood-creativity-has-saved-me-from-mental-trauma-101758307237923.html Hindustan Times Seascraper (2025) Lord, it's a hard life, son, I know that it is, to rise with the tide in the morning at Longferry Let me go home with the whiskets full of the shrimp Bury me here in these waters so I can be a seascraper a seascraper a seascraper a seascraper forever p.80 External links Booker Prize longlist interview Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Academics from England Category:Novelists from England