Editing Will Self

{{short description|English writer and journalist (born 1961)}}
{{for|others named William or [[Bill Self]]|Self (surname)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Will Self
| image            = File:13323-Will Self Reading -1660-Edit.jpg
| caption          = Self in 2013
| birth_name       = William Woodard Self
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1961|9|26|df=yes}}<ref name=autogenerated4>{{Cite web|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/13628/William%20Woodard%20(Will)+SELF.aspx|title=Will Self, Esq Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of Today, Will Self, Esq Profile<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref>
| birth_place      = [[London]], England
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| occupation       = Novelist, journalist
| education        = [[University College School]], [[Hampstead]]<br />[[Christ's College, Finchley|Christ's College]], [[Finchley]]
| alma_mater       = [[Exeter College, Oxford]]<br />([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| period           = 1991–present
| genre            = [[Literature]]
| notableworks     = ''[[The Book of Dave]]'' <br /> ''[[Umbrella (novel)|Umbrella]]''
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Kate Chancellor|1989|1997|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Deborah Orr]]|1997|2018|reason=divorced}}<ref name="Appleyard2017"/>
}}
| partner          = 
| children         = 
| relatives        = [[Henry Self|Sir Henry Self]] (grandfather)<br />[[Peter Self]] (father)<br />[[Jonathan Self]] (brother)
| awards           = {{awd|[[Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize]]|1991}} {{awd|[[Aga Khan Prize for Fiction]]|1998}} {{awd|[[Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize]]|2008}}
| website          = {{URL|https://will-self.com/}}
| module           = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Will Self BBC Radio4 Open Book 27 Jan 2008 b008s8z4.flac|title={{center|Will Self's voice}}|type=speech|description={{center|[[:File:Will Self BBC Radio4 Open Book 27 Jan 2008 b008s8z4.flac|Recorded January 2008]] from the BBC Radio 4 programme ''[[Open Book (radio)|Open Book]]''}}}}
}}
'''William Woodard Self''' (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/umbrella-by-will-self-8026842.html | work=The Independent | first=Matt | last=Thorne | title=Umbrella, By Will Self | location=London | date=11 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Dowell|first=Ben|title=Will Self in talks to become Radio 4 writer-in-residence|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/18/will-self-radio-4-writer-residence|access-date=18 January 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 January 2013|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Hamilton|first1=Ben|title=A Merry Dance: Will Self Takes on Modernism|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-merry-dance-will-self-takes-on-modernism/#!|magazine=Los Angeles Review of Books}}</ref> He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Self is currently [[Professor|Professor of]] [[Psychogeography|Modern Thought]] at [[Brunel University London]], where he teaches [[psychogeography]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Will Self |url=https://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/will-self}}</ref>

His 2002 novel ''[[Dorian, an Imitation]]'' was longlisted for the [[Booker Prize]], and his 2012 novel ''[[Umbrella (novel)|Umbrella]]'' was shortlisted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brunel.ac.uk/arts/english/staff/will-self|title=Will Self<!-- Bot generated title -->|date=November 2012 }}</ref> His fiction is known for being satirical, grotesque and fantastical, and is predominantly set within his home city of London. His writing often explores mental illness, drug abuse and psychiatry.

Self is a regular contributor to publications including ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'' and the ''[[London Review of Books]]''. He has been a columnist for the ''Observer'', ''[[The Times]]'',  the ''[[New Statesman]]'', the ''[[Evening Standard]]'' and ''[[The New European]]''. His columns for ''Building Design'' on the built environment, and for the ''[[Independent Magazine]]'' on the psychology of place brought him to prominence as a thinker concerned with the politics of [[urbanism]].

Self has also been a regular contributor to British television, initially as a guest on comic [[panel show]]s such as ''[[Have I Got News for You]]''. In 2002, Self replaced [[Mark Lamarr]] on the BBC comedy panel show ''[[Shooting Stars (British TV series)|Shooting Stars]]''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Self|first1=Will|title=Shooting Stars|url=https://will-self.com/2009/01/02/shooting-stars/|date=2 January 2009}}</ref><ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news|last1=Dowell|first1=Ben|title=Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer line up new series of Shooting Stars|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/apr/03/vic-reeves-bob-mortimer-shooting-stars-new-series|access-date=19 March 2018|newspaper=The Guardian|date=3 April 2009}}</ref> for two series, but was himself replaced by comedian [[Jack Dee]] when the programme returned in 2008.<ref name="The Guardian"/>  He has since appeared on current affairs programmes such as ''[[Newsnight]]'' and ''[[Question Time (TV programme)|Question Time]]''. Self is a contributor to the [[BBC Radio 4]] programme ''A Point of View'',<ref>{{cite web|last1=Self|first1=Will|title=A Point of View|url=https://will-self.com/2017/02/01/a-point-of-view-3/|access-date=19 March 2018|date=February 2017}}</ref> to which he contributes radio essays delivered in his familiar "lugubrious tones".<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news|last1=Dowell|first1=Ben|title=Will Self in talks to become Radio 4 writer-in-residence|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jan/18/will-self-radio-4-writer-residence|access-date=19 March 2018|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> In 2013, Self took part in discussions about becoming the inaugural BBC Radio 4 Writer-in-Residence,<ref name="theguardian.com"/> but later withdrew.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dowell|first1=Ben|title=Will Self backs out of talks to be Radio 4's writer-in-residence|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-07-22/will-self-backs-out-of-talks-to-be-radio-4s-writer-in-residence/|access-date=19 March 2018|archive-date=19 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319214135/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-07-22/will-self-backs-out-of-talks-to-be-radio-4s-writer-in-residence/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life==
Self was born in [[Charing Cross Hospital]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/18/would-that-all-journeys-were-on-foot-writers-on-the-joy-of-walking|title='Would that all journeys were on foot': writers on the joy of walking|author=Guardian Staff|newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 September 2018|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> and brought up in [[north London]], between the suburbs of [[East Finchley]] and [[Hampstead Garden Suburb]].<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite news|last=Charney|first=Noah|title=Will Self: How I Write|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/09/will-self-how-i-write.html|access-date=9 January 2013|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=9 January 2013}}</ref> His parents were [[Peter Self|Peter John Otter Self]], Professor of Public Administration at the [[London School of Economics]], and Elaine Rosenbloom, from [[Queens]], [[New York City|New York]], who worked as a publisher's assistant.<ref>M. Hunter Hayes ''Understanding Will Self'', p.7</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/09/willself#article_continue | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Sarah |last=Kinson | title=Books, Culture, Will Self (Author) | date=9 May 2007}}</ref><ref name="Hayes2007">{{cite book|author=M. Hunter Hayes|title=Understanding Will Self|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRVfQI82hx8C&pg=PA7|year=2007|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-57003-675-0|page=7}}</ref> His paternal grandfather was [[Henry Self|Sir Albert Henry Self]]. Self spent a year living in [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]] in [[upstate New York]].<ref name=autogenerated3 />

Self's parents separated when he was nine, and divorced when he was 18.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/15/biography.review | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Will | last=Self | title=Biography (Books genre), Books, Culture | date=15 June 2008}}</ref> Despite the intellectual encouragement given by his parents, he was an emotionally confused and self-destructive child, harming himself with [[cigarette]] ends and knives before beginning to use drugs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://72.166.46.24/archive/features/00/11/09/WILL_SELF1.html |title=Living Will |access-date=5 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928003618/http://72.166.46.24/archive/features/00/11/09/WILL_SELF1.html |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

Self was a voracious reader from a young age. When he was 10, he developed an interest in works of science fiction such as [[Frank Herbert]]'s ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'' and the works of [[J. G. Ballard]] and [[Philip K. Dick]].<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |last1=Self |first1=Will |title=My hero JG Ballard by Will Self |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/14/jg-ballard-hero-will-self |website=The Guardian |date=14 November 2009}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web |last1=Barker |first1=Nicola |last2=Moorcock |first2=Michael |last3=Roberts |first3=and Adam |title=The Philip K Dick book I love most… |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/27/philip-k-dick-best-novels-blade-runner-minority-report |website=The Observer |date=27 August 2017}}</ref> Into his teenage years, Self claimed to have been "overawed by the canon", which stifled his ability to express himself. Self's use of drugs increased in step with his prolific reading. He started smoking [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] at the age of 12, progressing by way of [[amphetamines]], [[cocaine]] and [[LSD]] to [[heroin]], which he started injecting at 18.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite journal |last=Finney |first=Brian |date=2001 |title=Will Self's Transgressive Fictions |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/27742 |journal=Postmodern Culture |volume=11 |issue=3 |doi=10.1353/pmc.2001.0015 |s2cid=144272638 |issn=1053-1920}}</ref> Self struggled with mental health issues during this period, and aged 20 became a hospital [[outpatient]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/will-self|title=Will Self|author=John Freedman|date=11 April 2014|work=Interview Magazine}}</ref>

Self attended [[University College School]], an [[independent school]] for boys in [[Hampstead]].<ref>''[[Have I Got News For You?]]'', Series 13 episode 1</ref> He later attended [[Christ's College, Finchley]], from where he went to [[Exeter College, Oxford]], reading [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics]] and graduated with a third class degree.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> At Oxford, he was editor of and frequent contributor to an underground left-wing student newspaper called ''Red Herring/Oxford Strumpet'', copies of which are archived in the [[Bodleian Library]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Search result showing location of Oxford Strumpet in Bodleian Library |url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/f/89vilt/oxfaleph012331051 |website=Bodleian Library |access-date=9 February 2021}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Willselfauthor.jpg|right|thumb|Self at a 2002 book signing]]
After graduating from [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], Self worked for the [[Greater London Council]], including as a road sweeper, while residing in [[Brixton]].<ref name="you_ask_the_questions">{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/you-ask-the-questions-will-self-672941.html| location=London | work=The Independent | title=You ask the questions: Will Self | date=6 June 2001}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> He pursued a career as a cartoonist for the ''[[New Statesman]]'' and other publications and as a [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up]] comedian.<ref name="you_ask_the_questions" /> He moved to [[Gloucester Road, London|Gloucester Road]] around 1985. In 1986 he entered a treatment centre in [[Weston-super-Mare]], where he claimed that his heroin addiction was cured.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> In 1989, "through a series of accidents", he "blagged" his way into running a small publishing company.<ref name="theparisreview.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/08/09/larger-than-life-an-interview-with-will-self/|title=Larger Than Life: An Interview With Will Self|author=Jacques Testard|date=9 August 2012|work=The Paris Review}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/will-self-is-apple-worthy-of-reverence/#.UuJBvRyQEy4|title=The Book of Jobs |work=prospectmagazine.co.uk}}</ref>

The publication of his short story collection ''[[The Quantity Theory of Insanity]]'' brought him to public attention in 1991. Self was hailed as an original new talent by [[Salman Rushdie]], [[Doris Lessing]], [[Beryl Bainbridge]], [[A. S. Byatt]] and [[Biff Byford|Bill Buford]].<ref name=autogenerated2 /> In 1993, he was nominated by ''[[Granta]]'' magazine as one of the 20 "Best Young British Novelists".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.specialistspeakers.com/?p=1670|title=Will Self|author=Specialist Speakers Profile|work=specialistspeakers.com}}</ref> Conversely, Self's second book, ''[[My Idea of Fun]]'', was "mauled" by the critics.<ref>No 242: Will Self The Guardian (1959–2003) London 16 September 1993: A3.</ref>

Self joined the ''[[The Observer|Observer]]'' as a columnist in 1995.<ref name=autogenerated4 /> In 1997 when covering the election campaign of [[John Major]], he was caught by a rival journalist using [[heroin]] on the Prime Minister's jet; he was fired as a result.<ref name="Addicted_to_transmogrification">{{cite news|last=Wroe|first=Nicholas|title=Addicted to transmogrification|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2 June 2001|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4196343,00.html|access-date=9 February 2007 | location=London}}</ref> At the time, he argued "I'm a hack who gets hired because I do drugs".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/11/willself | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Will Self (Author), Books, Culture | date=22 July 2008}}</ref> He joined the ''[[The Times|Times]]'' as a columnist in 1997.<ref name=autogenerated4 /> In 1999 he left the ''Times'' to join the ''[[Independent on Sunday]]'',<ref name=autogenerated4 /> which he left in 2002 for the ''[[Evening Standard]]''.<ref name=autogenerated4 />

He has made many appearances on British television, especially as a panellist on ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' and as a regular on ''[[Shooting Stars (British TV series)|Shooting Stars]]''. Since 2008 Self has appeared five times on ''[[Question Time (TV programme)|Question Time]]''. He stopped appearing in ''Have I Got News for You'', stating the show had become a ''pseudo''-panel show. Between 2003 and 2006, he was a regular contributor to the BBC2 television series ''[[Grumpy Old Men (TV series)|Grumpy Old Men]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4145681.stm|title=Why are we so grumpy?|date=5 January 2005|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Since 2009, Self has written two alternating fortnightly columns for the ''[[New Statesman]]''. ''The Madness of Crowds'' explores social phenomena and [[group behaviour]], and in ''Real Meals'' he reviews high street food outlets. For a May 2014 article in ''[[The Guardian]]'', he wrote: "the literary novel as an art work and a narrative art form central to our culture is indeed dying before our eyes", explaining in a July 2014 article that his royalty income had decreased "dramatically" over the previous decade. The July article followed the release of a study of the earnings of British authors that was commissioned by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Alison Flood|title=Authors' incomes collapse to 'abject' levels|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/08/authors-incomes-collapse-alcs-survey?CMP=twt_gu|access-date=12 July 2014|work=The Guardian|date=8 July 2014}}</ref>

Self is a professor of Modern Thought at [[Brunel University London]]. He was appointed in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Will-Self-joins-Brunel-University-as-Professor-of-Contemporary-Thought|title=Will Self|author=Brunel University|work=brunel.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Literary style==
[[File:Will Self at Humber Mouth 2007.jpg|thumb|right|Self in 2007]]
Self has given his reason for writing as follows: "I don't write fiction for people to identify with and I don't write a picture of the world they can recognise. I write to astonish people."<ref>M. Hunter Hayes ''Understanding Will Self'', p.1</ref> "What excites me is to disturb the reader's fundamental assumptions. I want to make them feel that certain categories within which they are used to perceiving the world are unstable."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Finney|first1=Brian|title=Will Self's Transgressive Fictions|journal=Postmodern Culture|date=May 2001|volume=11|issue=3|doi=10.1353/pmc.2001.0015|s2cid=144272638}}</ref>

When he was ten, he developed an interest in works of science fiction such as [[Frank Herbert]]'s ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'' and those of [[J. G. Ballard]] and [[Philip K. Dick]].<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto3"/> Self admires the work of [[J. G. Ballard]], [[Alasdair Gray]] and [[Martin Amis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=M |first1=Chris |title=Alasdair Gray: An Introduction |url=https://will-self.com/2006/01/12/alisdair-gray-an-introduction-2/ |website=Will Self |date=12 January 2006}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web |last1=McCrum |first1=Robert |title=Interview: Will Self |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/sep/29/fiction.willself |website=The Observer |date=29 September 2002}}</ref> He has said that he previously admired [[William Burroughs]] but went off him.<ref>{{cite web |author=Guardian Staff |title=Will Self |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/11/willself |website=The Guardian |date=22 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Opening up and inside out |url=https://www.economist.com/prospero/2012/09/06/opening-up-and-inside-out |newspaper=The Economist |date=6 September 2012}}</ref> He has cited writers such as [[Jonathan Swift]], [[Franz Kafka]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thespace.lrb.co.uk/|title=Kafka's Wound|access-date=1 September 2019|archive-date=11 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811123655/https://thespace.lrb.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Lewis Carroll]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Curiouser and curiouser |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/curiouser-and-curiouser-5363792.html |website=The Independent |language=en |date=11 August 2001}}</ref> and [[Joseph Heller]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Self |first1=Will |title=Will Self: 'I read as many as 50 books at once' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/17/will-self-i-read-as-many-as-50-books-at-once |website=The Guardian |date=17 August 2018}}</ref> as formative influences on his writing style.<ref name="auto2"/> Other influences on his fiction include [[Hunter S. Thompson]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Kate |title='Truth is weirder than any fiction I've seen ... ' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/feb/21/huntersthompson1 |website=The Guardian |date=21 February 2005}}</ref> Self credits [[Louis-Ferdinand Céline|Céline's]] book ''[[Journey to the End of the Night]]'' with inspiring him to write fiction.<ref name="Self on Celine">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/books/review/Self.t.html|date=10 September 2006|title=Céline's Dark Journey|author=Will Self|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=17 July 2010}}</ref>

[[Zack Busner]] is a recurring character in Self's fiction, appearing in the short story collections ''The Quantity Theory of Insanity'', ''Grey Area'' and ''Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe'', as well as in the novels ''Great Apes'', ''The Book of Dave'', ''Umbrella'' and ''Shark''. Busner is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst practising in London and is prone to self-promotion at the expense of his patients. He is often the [[antagonist]] of the stories he appears in, although not always with villainous intent.

Among Self's admirers was the American critic [[Harold Bloom]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bloom|first=Harold|title=Genius : a mosaic of one hundred exemplary creative minds|url=https://archive.org/details/geniusmosaiconeh00bloo_894|url-access=limited|year=2002|publisher=Warner Books|location=New York|isbn=0-446-69129-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/geniusmosaiconeh00bloo_894/page/n646 648]|quote=There are a few affinities, except perhaps with the admirable Antonia Byatt, in the generation after: novelists I also now admire, like Will Self, Peter Ackroyd, and John Banville.}}</ref> Journalist [[Stuart Maconie]] has described him as "that rarity in modern cultural life, a genuine intellectual with a bracing command of words and ideas who is also droll, likeable and culturally savvy."<ref>Stuart Maconie. "My People". ''[[Radio Times]]'' 2–8 February 2013, p.125</ref>

==Political views==
In the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 UK general election]] Self voted [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] in a general election for the first time since [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]. In May 2015, he wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'': "No, I'm no longer a socialist if to be one is to believe that a socialist utopia is attainable by some collective feat of will – but I remain a socialist, if 'socialism' is to be understood as an antipathy to vested interests and privileges neither deserved nor earned, and a strong desire for a genuinely egalitarian society."<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |last=Self|first=Will|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/may/01/will-self-oscar-wilde-champagne-socialist-voting-labour|title=Will Self: Oscar Wilde, champagne socialism and why I'm voting Labour|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=1 May 2015|access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref> In March 2017, he wrote in the ''[[New Statesman]]'': "Nowadays I think in terms of compassionate pragmatism: I'll leave socialism to [[Slavoj Žižek|Žižek]] and the other bloviators."<ref name="newstatesman">{{cite magazine |last=Self|first=Will|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/03/i-was-no-fan-new-labour-brexit-requires-original-thinking-corbyn-cant-provide|title=Will Self: I was no fan of New Labour – but Brexit requires original thinking Corbyn can't provide|magazine=[[New Statesman]]|date=1 May 2015|access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref>

In July 2015 Self endorsed [[Jeremy Corbyn]]'s [[2015 Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party leadership campaign|campaign]] in the [[2015 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|Labour Party leadership election]].<ref name="youtube">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/v6nbZWfg8R8 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150730211409/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6nbZWfg8R8&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6nbZWfg8R8|title=Jeremy Corbyn: Will Self and John McTernan debate|publisher=[[Channel 4 News]]|date=30 July 2015|access-date=15 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He said during a ''[[Channel 4 News]]'' interview that Corbyn represents a useful ideological divide within Labour, and could lead to the formation of a schism in the party.<ref name="londonlovesbusiness">{{cite news|last1=Vinter|first1=Robyn|last2=Cockburn|first2=Harry|url=http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/politics/all-these-celebrity-jeremy-corbyn-fans-might-surprise-you/11650.article|title=All these celebrity Jeremy Corbyn fans might surprise you|publisher=London Loves Business|date=7 January 2016|access-date=1 May 2018|archive-date=2 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502065033/http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/politics/all-these-celebrity-jeremy-corbyn-fans-might-surprise-you/11650.article|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Self is a [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|republican]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Self |first1=Will |title=Why the monarchy must go |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/will-self-abolish-monarchy-republicanism}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Will Self is married to the French novelist Nelly Kaprielian-Self.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-09-16 |title=He Read His Dying Mother's Diaries, and Spun Them Into a Novel |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/books/elaine-will-self.html |access-date=2025-01-09}}</ref>

He was previously married from 1989 to 1997 to Kate Chancellor. They have two children, a son, Alexis, and a daughter, Madeleine. They lived together in a [[terraced house]] just off the [[Portobello Road]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Sandrea|title=A certain sense of Self|newspaper=The Globe and Mail (Canada)|date=7 June 1994}}</ref> In 1997, Self married journalist [[Deborah Orr]], with whom he has sons Ivan and Luther. In 2017, Orr and Self [[Marital separation|separated]], and Self was living in a rented flat in [[Stockwell]].<ref name="Appleyard2017">{{cite news|last=Appleyard|first=Bryan|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/calling-the-modern-world-to-account-npnf9rpzh|title=Calling the modern world to account|work=The Sunday Times|date=21 May 2017|access-date=8 July 2017}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Orr died on 19 October 2019.

Self has stated that he has abstained from [[Recreational drug use|drugs]], except for [[caffeine]] and [[nicotine]], since 1998. In 2024 he wrote: "I gave up smoking – and indeed, consuming nicotine in any way, shape or form – almost six years ago".<ref name="tribune">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/arts/07iht-self.html|title=Will Self's slow walk into downtown New York|first=Charles|last=McGrath|date=7 December 2006|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Self |first=Will |date=2 January 2024 |title=Multicultural Man: Oh, and I have cancer |url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/will-self-on-cancer/ |access-date=28 January 2024 |website=The New European}}</ref> In the same column he revealed that he had been diagnosed with [[Primary myelofibrosis|myelofibrosis]]. It is a progression of the blood disease [[polycythaemia vera]] with which he was diagnosed in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/21/will-self-blood-disease|title=Will Self: The trouble with my blood|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=21 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=When Polycythemia Vera Turns Into Another Cancer |url=https://www.webmd.com/cancer/lymphoma/polycythemia-vera-changes-other-cancer |access-date=28 January 2024}}</ref>

He sent his younger children to [[private school]]s after they experienced bullying at [[state school]]s in [[Lambeth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/im-a-diehard-leftie-but-my-son-is-going-to-private-school-6898981.html|title=I'm a diehard Leftie but my son is going to private school|date=14 October 2008}}</ref>

He has described himself as a [[Psychogeography|psychogeographer]] and modern [[flâneur]], and has written about walks he has taken.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2007/nov/12/mappingwillselfsmind | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Bharat | last=Azad | title=Books | date=12 November 2007}}</ref> In December 2006, he walked {{convert|26|mi|km|abbr=off}} from his home in South London to [[Heathrow Airport]]. Upon arriving at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|Kennedy Airport]] he walked {{convert|20|mi|km|abbr=off}} from there to [[Manhattan]].<ref name="tribune" /> In August 2013, Self wrote of his anger following an incident in which he was stopped and questioned by police in [[Yorkshire]] while out walking with his 11-year-old son, on suspicion of being a [[paedophile]]. The police were alerted by a security guard at [[Bishop Burton College]]. He had asked the security guard for permission to cross the school grounds.<ref name=Independent81813>{{cite news|title=Questioned for taking a country walk with his son?: Even Will Self couldn't make it up Dismayed author blames fear of paedophiles for warping attitudes|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/questioned-for-taking-a-country-walk-with-his-son-even-will-self-couldnt-make-it-up-8773439.html|access-date=19 August 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=18 August 2013|author=Tom Foot|location=London}}</ref>

In September 2018 Self was accused of "[[Psychological abuse|mental cruelty]]" by Orr in relation to their [[divorce]], in a series of posts on [[Twitter]].<ref>{{cite news|access-date=24 August 2019|title=Will Self accused of cruelty in divorce row with Deborah Orr|newspaper=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/will-self-accused-of-cruelty-in-divorce-row-69zqdbn6w}}</ref>

Self's mother died in 1988.<ref name="theparisreview.org" /> His 2024 novel Elaine is partially based on his mother's diaries.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-09-16 |title=He Read His Dying Mother's Diaries, and Spun Them Into a Novel |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/books/elaine-will-self.html |access-date=2025-01-09}}</ref>

Self has discussed his [[Jews|Jewish heritage]], by way of his mother, and its impact on his identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Will Self |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/will-self |website=Interview Magazine |date=3 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/14/british-american-jewish-londoner-will-self|title=Call me British, American, Jewish, Londoner – just don't call me patriotic &#124; Will Self|first=Will|last=Self|newspaper=The Guardian |date=14 April 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Will Self: Who are you to call me Jewish? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/lifestyle/2012/05/will-self-who-are-you-call-me-jewish |website=www.newstatesman.com |language=en |access-date=1 September 2019 |archive-date=1 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901101942/https://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/lifestyle/2012/05/will-self-who-are-you-call-me-jewish |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2006, Self  'resigned' as a Jew as a protest against the [[2006 Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Self |first1=Will |title=How I Stopped Being a Jew by Shlomo Sand and Unchosen: The Memoirs of a Philo-Semite by Julie Burchill – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/06/how-i-stopped-being-a-jew-shlomo-sand-unchosen-julie-burchill-review |website=The Guardian |date=6 November 2014}}</ref> In 2018 he stated in an interview with the BBC that he had rethought his position, due to the resurgence of [[Antisemitism in the United Kingdom|anti-Semitism in Britain]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b5xh33|title=BBC Radio 4 - A Point of View, A New Anti-Semitism|website=BBC}}</ref>

Self is {{convert|6|ft|5|in|cm}} tall,<ref>''The Calgary Herald'' (Alberta)  23 July 2006 Sunday  Final Edition  Meaning of Masculinity: It's the subject of almost everything Will Self writes</ref> collects vintage [[typewriter]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n05/will-self/diary|title=Diary|date=5 March 2015|work=[[London Review of Books]]|access-date=26 February 2015}}</ref> and used to smoke a [[Tobacco pipe|pipe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tatler.com/the-tatler-list/s/will-self|title=Will Self|work=Tatler|access-date=22 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708021208/http://www.tatler.com/the-tatler-list/s/will-self|archive-date=8 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> His brother is the author and journalist [[Jonathan Self]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mullan |first1=John |title=Guardian book club: Will Self |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2007/jun/15/books1194 |work=The Guardian |date=2007-06-15 |location=London}}</ref>

Self became a [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] in 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-01-22 |title=Will Self's fantasy dinner party — a vegetarian feast served by Margaret Thatcher |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e1161205-8052-4971-9b3d-acae8220073d#comments-anchor |access-date=2023-02-18}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
In 2016, the [[British Library]] acquired Self's archive; the collection is a hybrid archive of paper and [[born-digital]] material.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Will Self's archive acquired by the British Library - English and Drama blog|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/english-and-drama/2016/12/will-selfs-archive-acquired-by-the-british-library.html|website=blogs.bl.uk|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref> The Papers of Will Self are divided into two parts: family papers and personal and literary papers. The papers can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.<ref>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-003345873 The Papers of Will Self], archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 13 May 2020</ref>

==Awards==
* 1991: [[Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize]] for ''[[The Quantity Theory of Insanity]]''
* 1998: [[Aga Khan Prize for Fiction]] from ''[[The Paris Review]]'' for ''Tough Tough Toys for Tough Tough Boys''
* 2008: [[Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize]] for Comic Fiction for ''The Butt''

==Works==
===Novels===
* ''[[Cock and Bull (book)|Cock and Bull]]'' (1992)
* ''[[My Idea of Fun]]'' (1993)
* ''[[The Sweet Smell of Psychosis]]'' (illustrated novella) (1996)
* ''[[Great Apes (book)|Great Apes]]'' (1997)
* ''[[How the Dead Live]]'' (2000)
* ''[[Dorian, an Imitation]]'' (2002)
* ''[[The Book of Dave]]'' (2006)
* ''[[The Butt]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Walking to Hollywood]]'' (2010)
* ''[[Umbrella (novel)|Umbrella]]'' (2012)
* ''[[Shark (novel)|Shark]]'' (2014)
* ''[[Phone (Will Self novel)|Phone]]'' (2017)
* ''Elaine'' (2024)

===Short story collections===
* ''[[The Quantity Theory of Insanity]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Grey Area (book)|Grey Area]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Liver: A Fictional Organ with a Surface Anatomy of Four Lobes]]'' (2008)
* ''The Undivided Self: Selected Stories'' (2010)

===Non-fiction===
Self has also compiled several books of work from his newspaper and magazine columns which mix interviews with counter-culture figures, restaurant reviews and literary criticism.
* ''[[Junk Mail (book)|Junk Mail]]'' (1996)
* ''Perfidious Man'' (2000) photography by David M. Gamble
* ''Sore Sites'' (2000)
* ''Feeding Frenzy'' (2001)
* ''[[Psychogeography (book)|Psychogeography]]'' (2007)
* ''Psycho Too'' (2009)
* ''[[The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Prawn Cracker]]'' (2012)
* ''[[Will (Will Self memoir)|Will]]'' (2019)
* ''Why Read: Selected Writings 2001–2021'' (2022)

===Television===
* ''The Minor Character'' – Self's short story was turned into a short film on Sky Arts which starred [[David Tennant]] as "Will".

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q261054|c=Category:Will Self|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}
* {{official website}}
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|1107102|Will Self}}
* {{british council|id=will-self|name=Will Self}}
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/whyiwrite/story/0,,2075745,00.html Will Self] article on why he writes in ''[[The Guardian]]''
* [http://www.nerve.com/fiction/self/theprinciple "The Principle"], short fiction by Will Self
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/will_self Will Self] profile from the ''[[New Statesman]]''
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/authors/author/0,5917,-164,00.html Will Self] author page at ''[[Guardian Books]]''
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/features/2004/01/willself.shtml Will Self] short interview at the [[BBC]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071103092926/http://archive.salon.com/audio/col/mill/2000/10/19/miller/ Will Self] audio interview at ''[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]''
*'[https://blogs.bl.uk/english-and-drama/2018/03/the-lives-of-typewriters-and-large-data-sets-cataloguing-the-will-self-archive.html The Lives of Typewriters and Large Data-sets: The Will Self Archive]' British Library English and Drama Blog

{{Will Self|state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Self, Will}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century English male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century English novelists]]
[[Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English male novelists]]
[[Category:English male short story writers]]
[[Category:English people of American descent]]
[[Category:English people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:English republicans]]
[[Category:English satirists]]
[[Category:English short story writers]]
[[Category:English socialists]]
[[Category:New Statesman people]]
[[Category:People educated at Christ's College, Finchley]]
[[Category:People educated at University College School]]
[[Category:People from East Finchley]]
[[Category:British postmodern writers]]
[[Category:Psychogeographers]]
[[Category:Self family|Will]]
[[Category:Writers from the London Borough of Barnet]]