Alex Pheby

Alex Pheby
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	British
Genre	Literary fiction Medical fiction Fantasy fiction

Alex Pheby (born 1970)[1] is a British author and academic. He is currently a professor at Newcastle University and lives in Scotland.[2] He studied at Manchester University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Goldsmiths. and UEA.[3]

Career

Pheby's second novel, Playthings, was described as "the best neuro-novel ever written" in Literary Review.[4] The novel deals with the true case of Daniel Paul Schreber, a 19th-century German judge affected by schizophrenia, who was committed to an asylum. In 2016, Playthings was shortlisted for the £30,000 Wellcome Book Prize.[5] His third novel, Lucia, concerning the suspected schizophrenic daughter of James Joyce, released in 2018 was joint winner of the Republic of Consciousness Prize.[6] He is also the author of Grace, published by Two Ravens Press.

Mordew, published in 2020 by Galley Beggar Press, is the first of a trilogy of fantasy novels. Critics have praised the world building, the balance between "invention and familiarity", and described the novel as "dizzying".[7][8][9]

Bibliography

• 2014: Afterimages of Schreber
• 2015: Playthings
• 2018: Lucia
• 2020: Mordew (Cities of the Weft #1)
• 2022: Malarkoi (Cities of the Weft #2)
• 2025: Waterblack (Cities of the Weft #3)

References

1. "Pheby, Alex". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
2. "Alex Pheby – Professor of Creative Writing (Prose)". ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
3. https://www.gre.ac.uk/people/rep/fach/alex-pheby
4. "A Waking Dreamer". Literary Review.
5. "Playthings by Alex Pheby review – the madness of Daniel Paul Schreber". The Guardian. 20 November 2015.
6. "Novels about Lucia Joyce and Alan Turing win Republic of Consciousness Prize". The Irish Times.
7. Roberts, Adam (20 August 2020). "Mordew by Alex Pheby review – an extravagant, unnerving fantasy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
8. "Magic and miasma: Mordew, by Alex Pheby, reviewed | the Spectator". www.spectator.co.uk. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
9. "Mordew: a city of compelling characters and dark adventures". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 August 2020.