Paul Harding (author)

Paul Harding (born 1967) is an American musician and author, best known for his debut novel Tinkers (2009), which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction^[1] and the 2010 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize,^[2] among other honors. He is currently the director of the Creative Writing and Literature MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton,^[3] as well as Interim Associate Provost of SUNY-Stony Brook's Lichtenstein Center.^[4]

Life and career

Paul Harding grew up on the north shore of Boston in the town of Wenham, Massachusetts. As a youth, he spent a lot of time "knocking about in the woods," which he attributes to his love of nature.^[5] His grandfather fixed clocks and he apprenticed under him, an experience that found its way into Harding's first novel, Tinkers.^[6] Harding has a B.A. degree in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst^[7] and an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and has taught writing at Harvard University and the University of Iowa.^[8]

After graduating from the University of Massachusetts, he spent time touring with his band

Musically, Harding admires jazz drummers and considers John Coltrane's drummer, Elvin Jones, the greatest.^[5] Harding was the drummer in the band Cold Water Flat throughout its existence from 1990 to 1996.^[9]

Harding's second novel, Enon (2013), concerns characters from his first novel, Tinkers, looking at the lives of George Crosby's grandson, Charlie Crosby, and his daughter Kate.^[8] His third novel, This Other Eden, was shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize^[10] and the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction.^[11]

Harding lives near Boston with his wife and two sons.^[8]

Awards and honors

• 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, winner
• 2010 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, winner
• 2012 Fernanda Pivano Award

Works

• ISBN 978-1-934137-12-3
  )
• ISBN 978-1-400069-43-9
  )
• ISBN 978-1324036296)^[12]