Neil Gaiman
The prolific author, Neil Richard Gaiman, was born in Portchester, Hampshire, England on November 10, 1960. More popularly known as Neil Gaiman, the English author remains the bestselling author in many different genres including comics, fiction novels for both adults and children, short stories and graphic novels. Besides prose and poetry, he is also actively involved in journalism, writing for films, newspapers, theatre dramas and song lyrics. His most famous works include the cult comic series The Sandman and the novels The Graveyard Book, Stardust, American Gods and Coraline.
Neil Gaiman is critically acclaimed for creating his long running comic series, The Sandman. The comic series spanning over 70 issues from January 1989 to March 1996, is his most famous work to date. The protagonist of the comic series is called “Dream”; sometimes also referred to as Morpheus or Onieros. The story takes place in a magical fantasy world called “Endless” and is both horrific and beautiful at the same time. Dream has six brothers and sisters namely Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, and Destruction. The names of the characters describe the functions they perform and the arenas they are in charge of.
Initially published as a 32-page monthly comic book, hardcover editions of The Sandman were also printed by DC Comics as its popularity began to rise. The series was later published as a collection in a total of 10 volumes, which are still in print. It is one of the few rare graphic novels to be featured on the New York Times Best Seller list, an honour it shares with the likes of Watchmen and The Dark Night Returns. Entertainment Weekly ranked it at number 46 in the list of 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008, one of the five graphic novels who made it to the elusive list. Its nineteenth issue, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction in 1991. The series has won more than twenty Eisner Awards including four for Best Writer.
The 2011 novel, American Gods is the winner of Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus and Nebula Awards. The popular novel is a cross between various genres like fantasy, mythology and Americana. The protagonist is a mysterious personality named Shadow. It follows the life of a man who finds that his life has been completely changed after being released from prison. His wife has been killed and nothing is same anymore.
The Dictionary of Literary Biography lists Neil Gaiman in the top ten living post-modern writers. He has also won many awards and honours for his work including the Nebula, Hugo and Bram Stoker. In 2009 he also became the recipient of the Newbery Medal for his bestselling novel, The Graveyard Book. In 2010, the American Library Association selected him as the Honorary Chair of National Library Week. In short, he has won 9 Locus Awards, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 4 Geffens, 3 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 2 British SF Awards, 2 Mythopoeic Awards, 1 British Fantasy Award and 1 World Fanatsy Award.