Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is renowned the world over for his darkly fanciful fantasy and sci-fi works, which range from graphic novels to children’s books to literature for adults. Born in Portsmouth to Jewish parents who, shortly after Neil’s birth, converted to Scientology, Gaiman’s early influences included C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Because Gaiman’s father David, the head of the UK branch of the Church of Scientology, was often embroiled in public relations scandals tied to the church’s controversial practices, Gaiman bounced from school to school as a child and has described himself as interviews as a “feral child who was raised in libraries.” He has also noted that he himself is not a Scientologist. Gaiman began his writing career in the 1980s as a journalist and biographer, penning books about the band Duran Duran and Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. After his breakout series Sandman, published by DC Comics, gained worldwide renown in the early 1990s, Gaiman’s literary career took off in earnest. Gaiman’s most famous titles include Stardust, Good Omens (cowritten with Terry Pratchett,) American Gods, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. American Gods and Coraline have been recognized by the Hugo Awards, the Nebula Awards, and the Bram Stoker Awards, while 2008’s The Graveyard Book earned Gaiman the British Carnegie Medal and the American Newbery Medal for excellence in children’s literature. Gaiman’s work has been widely adapted for film, radio, and television, garnering nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, the Primetime Emmy Awards, and the Saturn Awards.