Gaby Wood (born 1971) is an English journalist, author and literary critic who has written for publications including The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, London Review of Books, Granta, and Vogue. She is the literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, appointed in succession to Ion Trewin and having taken over the post at the conclusion of the prize for 2015.Jennifer (20 April 2015), "Booker Prize Foundation Hints at New Direction with Appointment of Gaby Wood as Literary Director", Books Live, Sunday Times.
Education Wood read French literature at Cambridge University, and was a recipient of the Harper-Wood Studentship from St John's College in 1999.Crawforth, Eleanor (May–June 2012), "News and Notes", PN Review 205, Volume 38, Number 5.Everest, Paul (2018), "The Story of the Harper-Wood" , The Eagle (St John's College, University of Cambridge), Vol. 100, p. 38.
Career She was a journalist at The Observer from 2002, and during her time at the newspaper was deputy literary editor, arts editor, editor of the review section and New York correspondent for seven years.
Wood's book Living Dolls: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life (US edition: Edison's Eve) was published in 2002. Described by Miranda Seymour in The New York Times as a "lively, elegant and surprising book, packed with curious details and enticing anecdotes",Seymour, Miranda (25 August 2002), "The Ghosts in the Machines", The New York Times. it was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2003."Fellows and Their Topics for the Year 2007-2008", New York Public Library.
Wood was awarded a 2007–2008 Cullman fellowship at the New York Public Library.Taylor, Kate (3 April 2007), "Library Fellows Announced!, The New York Sun.
Wood was The Daily Telegraphs head of books, overseeing literature coverage, from January 2010 until 2015, and continues to write for the paper.Page, Benedicte (30 April 2015), "Gaby Wood made Booker's literary director", The Bookseller."Gaby Wood appointed as the next Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation" , The Booker Prizes, 29 April 2015. She has also written for the London Review of Books,Gaby Wood profile, London Review of Books. The Guardian, Granta, and US Vogue,Gaby Wood profile, Vogue. among other publications, and has served as a judge for literary awards including the Man Booker Prize in 2011, Granta magazine's Best of Young British Novelists, the Jerwood Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (2013),"Eimear McBride wins Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize", The Irish Times, 21 November 2014. and the Bookseller Industry Awards.
Wood was announced as literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation in April 2015, a few weeks after the death of her predecessor Ion Trewin (who had held the role since 2006, taking over from Martyn Goff, who ran the prize for three decades).
In July 2021, Wood was elected an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Personal life Wood is the daughter of Michael Wood, Professor Emeritus in English at Princeton University, and has described herself as "half-Mexican, half-British ... growing up in Mexico and England". She has two daughters.
Selected bibliography The Smallest of All Persons Mentioned in the Records of Littleness, Profile Books, 1998 . Living Dolls: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life, Faber and Faber, 2002, ; paperback 2003, . US edition: Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002, ; Anchor Books, 2003, .
References
External links Gaby Wood, The Observer contributor page Gaby Wood, The Telegraph contributor page Yahoo contributor page