Stephen Amidon

Stephen Amidon (born 1959, in Chicago)^[1] is an American author and critic.

Life

He grew up on the East Coast of the United States of America, including a spell in Columbia, Maryland, which served as the inspiration for his fourth novel The New City.^[2][3] Amidon attended Wake Forest University as a Guy T. Carswell Scholar, majoring in philosophy.^[4] He moved to London, UK, in 1987, where he was given his first job as a critic by Auberon Waugh, who invited him to review a novel for The Literary Review.^[5] In 1999 he returned to the US.^[6]

His literary criticism and essays have appeared in many publications in North America and the UK ^[7] and he has also worked as a film critic for the Financial Times and the Sunday Times.^[8] In November, 2013, Amidon was on the jury of the 31st Torino Film Festival.^[9] Amidon has written two non-fiction books: The Sublime Engine with his brother Tom, a cardiologist,^[10] and Something Like the Gods ^[11] which is dedicated to his son, Alexander, a first-team, all-ACC wide receiver for the Boston College football team.^[12][13]

Stephen Amidon sold his first work of fiction in 1989, when the short story "Echolocation" was chosen by Ian Hamilton for inclusion in the Bloomsbury anthology Soho Square II.^[14] He was awarded an Arts Council of Great Britain bursary for the short story in 1990. He is the author of a collection of short stories and six novels, the most recent of which, The Real Justine, was released in 2015.^[15] His fiction has been published in fifteen countries.^[16] The novel Human Capital was chosen by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post as one of the five best works of fiction of 2004.^[17] A film adaptation of the novel, Human Capital (Il capitale umano) directed by Paolo Virzì, won best film at the 2014 David di Donatello, Nastro d'Argento, and Globi D'Oro Awards,^[18]

The film premiered in America at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival^[19] and it was Italy's entry for best foreign language film at the 2015 Academy Awards.^[20] In February 2015, Teatro Stabile di Torino premiered 6BIANCA, a serial drama, written by Stephen Amidon and directed by Serena Sinigaglia.^[21][22]

In the summer of 2016, filming commenced on The Leisure Seeker which Amidon adapted as a screenplay with Virzì, Francesca Archibugi, and Francesco Piccolo. The film stars Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland.^[23]

Bibliography

Novels

• Splitting the Atom, 1990
• Thirst, 1993
• The Primitive, 1995
• The New City, 2000
• Human Capital, 2004
• Security, 2009
• The Real Justine, 2015

Short Story Collection

• Subdivision : Stories, 1991

Non-fiction

• The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart, 2011
• Something Like the Gods: A Cultural History of the Athlete from Achilles to LeBron, 2012

Screenplay

• The Leisure Seeker, 2016

Plays

• 6Bianca - episodes 1-6, 2015 - directed by Serena Sinigaglia

Film Adaptation

• Human Capital, 2013 - directed by Paolo Virzì

External links

• Literary Encyclopedia Entry
• Author's Website
• 6Bianca Website

References