Jarred McGinnis

Jarred P. McGinnis (born 1977 (age 45)) is an American-born writer based in the United Kingdom. In 2021, he was named as one of the best 10 emerging writers from the UK by The Guardian.

Early life and education
McGinnis grew up in Siesta Key, Florida, United States. While studying at the University of Texas at Austin, he had a car accident the day before his 21st birthday, causing a spinal cord injury, resulting in paraplegia and the loss of the use of his legs.

Before the accident McGinnis wanted to study screenwriting, but he turned to computer science when he realized the need for a job and health insurance due to his disability. After graduating from the UT, McGinnis enrolled for the PhD program at the University of Edinburgh, and worked under Professor Dave Robertson and earned his PhD in Computer Science on Artificial Intelligence. The title of his doctoral thesis was: On the Mutability of Protocols.

Writing career
His debut novel The Coward was selected for BBC Two's Between The Covers and BBC Radio 2's Book Club programs and was long-listed for the Barbellion Prize. Translated into French as Le Lâche it won the "foreign books" category of the Prix du Premier Roman (First Novel prize). and was nominated for the prestigious Femina prize. The Coward is an autofiction that blends his own experiences, although he has said that he has "tried not to use the term auto-fiction", and has used the term "livre vecu".

His next writing project is The Mountain Weight, which "mines his family’s history, from the American Civil War to the present day, to examine themes of masculinity, family and migration" and for which he was awarded the 2023 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer's Award.

Other writings

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Awards
McGinnis was awarded the 2023 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer's award for his work on The Mountain Weight, the other winner being Ayanna Lloyd Banwo. His first novel's French edition has won the Prix du Premier Roman (First Novel prize).

Other activities
He is the co-founder of The Special Relationship, described as "the polymath of literary evenings", which was chosen for the British Council's International Literature Showcase. He was the creative director for Moby-Dick Unabridged, a four-day immersive multimedia reading of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick at the Southbank Centre, involving hundreds of participants.

Personal life
McGinnis is married to Sarah, who dropped out of college for a year to care for him after his accident. They both graduated from the University of Texas, and moved together first to Edinburgh, then to London. They have two daughters. During the COVID-19 pandemic they made the decision to move to Marseille, France.