James Hawes (author)


James Hawes is a British novelist who has also written screen adaptations for two of his works.

Early life and education

Hawes grew up in Gloucestershire, Edinburgh and Shropshire. He took a First in German at Hertford College, Oxford, then did a postgrad year in theatre studies in Cardiff, Wales, which has been his base ever since. Having failed as an actor, he worked as an English teacher in Spain. In 1985–1986 he was in charge of CADW excavations at the now-UNESCO World Heritage site of Blaenavon Ironworks. Following this, he studied for a Ph.D. on Nietzsche and German literature 1900–1914 at University College, London in 1987-89. He lectured in German at Maynooth University in Ireland between 1989 and 1991 before doing so at Sheffield University and Swansea University.

Writing

Hawes has published six novels, two of which he has adapted as screenplays for movie productions. The first two, A White Merc with Fins and Rancid Aluminium were both Sunday Times bestsellers.
The Guardian praised Hawes as a satirist for his novels, Speak for England and My Little Armalite. His Kafka biography, Excavating Kafka, caused outrage in Germany.
In 2008, James Hawes became Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University. In 2012 he was promoted to Reader. Among his former students there are Kit de Waal and Catherine Chanter.
Englanders and Huns: The Culture Clash which Led to the First World War, published by Simon & Schuster, focused on the Anglo-German rivalry of the later nineteenth century. The book received positive reviews and was shortlisted for the Paddy Power Political Books of the Year. One chapter—on the long-forgotten murder of Queen Victoria's personal chef in Bonn in 1865—became the subject of an exhibition in the Bonn City Museum from May–August 2015.
His book The Shortest History of Germany was published in May 2017.

Directions

Hawes has directed 3 Episodes in Snowpiercer.