Stephen Kelman (born 1976) is an English novelist. His debut novel, Pigeon English, was shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize.
Early life and education Born in 1976,"Booker longlist: Stephen Kelman on Pigeon English", 3 August 2011.Erica Wagner, "Stephen Kelman: Britain’s new hot novelist", The Times, 26 February 2011. Kelman grew up in Luton on the Marsh Farm council estate,"Stephen Kelman: 'I feel that I've gatecrashed the Booker Prize shortlist'", Evening Standard, [7 September 2011] 10 April 2012. and earned a degree in marketing at the University of Luton."Author fulfils destiny with Booker prize nomination acclaim", Luton & Dunstable Express, 14 August 2011, archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
Career Kelman held a variety of jobs, in a warehouse, in marketing, in local government, and as a caseworker, before deciding in 2005 to focus on writing.Mark Brown, "Man Booker prize 2011 longlist includes quartet of debut novels", The Guardian, 26 July 2011.
After writing several screenplays which were not picked up and a novel which he did not submit, Kelman completed the first draft of a second novel, Pigeon English, shortly before being made redundant from his local authority position.Kate Youde Andchris Stevenson, "Here's something novel – backing for first-time writers", The Independent, 22 January 2011. It was rescued from a literary agency's slush pile and published in 2011 after a bidding war between publishers.Lewis Jones, "Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman: review", Daily Telegraph, 7 March 2011."'Overnight success' in line for Desmond Elliott prize", BBC News, 25 May 2011. It was a commercial successMichael Perfect, "London as a 'Brutal', 'Hutious' City: Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English (2011)", in: Contemporary Fictions of Multiculturalism, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, , pp. 180–98, . and was shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards New Writer of the Year Award,"Stephen Kelman", The Booker Prizes, retrieved 13 January 2026. and was one of the Waterstones 11 in that award's first year."UK book chain starts annual debut authors hot list", Reuters, 21 January 2011. It is based on the killing of Damilola Taylor but its protagonist is an 11-year-old Ghanaian instead of a 10-year-old Nigerian.
In 2015 Kelman published a second novel, Man on Fire, based on the life of Bibhuti Bhushan Nayak, an Indian journalist and multiple record holder for feats of endurance and repeated exercises."How a kick in the groin sparked Stephen Kelman's new book", The Herald, 1 August 2015.Erica Wagner, "Man on Fire by Stephen Kelman review – pain means nothing to BB Nayak", The Guardian, 8 August 2015.Vijay Singh, "Fittest vegetarian at 50, B B Nayak set to attempt 3 world records on a single day", Times of India, 24 June 2015.
Personal life Kelman and his wife, Uzma, married in 2011. He has written about being abused by his father.Stephen Kelman, "'There is one story we never tell': will old family photos bring joy to my ailing mother – or remind us of dark secrets?", The Guardian, 11 January 2026.
References
External links Stephen Kelman at C&W Literary Agency