Neil Gaiman Biography Quotes 31 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Neil Richard Gaiman was born on 10 November 1960 in Portchester, Hampshire, England, and grew up largely in West Sussex. His parents, David and Sheila Gaiman, encouraged his appetite for reading, and he spent much of his childhood in libraries. The breadth of that reading, from classic children's fantasy to myth and folklore, would later shape the tone and reach of his fiction. He attended school in the United Kingdom and began writing in his teens, but instead of taking a university path, he moved directly into the world of words and publishing.

Journalism and First Books
Gaiman began his career in the early 1980s as a journalist and reviewer for British newspapers and magazines, developing a clear, playful prose style and a reporter's curiosity about how stories are made. His first book, a profile of the pop group Duran Duran, appeared in 1984 and was followed by Ghastly Beyond Belief, a compendium of exuberant quotes compiled with critic and novelist Kim Newman. During these years he also met artists and editors who would become central to his creative life. Among them were his longtime agent Merrilee Heifetz, who helped shepherd his transition from journalism to fiction, and artist Dave McKean, whose experimental visual approach aligned with Gaiman's interest in fairy tales and the uncanny.

Comics Breakthrough: The Sandman
Gaiman's entry into comics in the late 1980s quickly reshaped the medium's possibilities. After early collaborations with Dave McKean, including Violent Cases and the DC Comics miniseries Black Orchid, he created The Sandman for DC's emerging Vertigo line under the editorial guidance of Karen Berger. Launched in 1989 and completed in 1996, the 75-issue series reimagined the figure of Dream (also called Morpheus) and his siblings, the Endless, as a lens through which to tell stories about myth, history, and the act of storytelling itself. Working with artists such as Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Kelley Jones, Jill Thompson, Marc Hempel, and Charles Vess, and with McKean's distinctive painted covers, Gaiman turned The Sandman into a landmark of literary comics. The issue A Midsummer Night's Dream, made with Charles Vess, received the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story, an unprecedented honor for a comic.

Gaiman expanded this world with related works, including the miniseries Death: The High Cost of Living, collaborations like The Sandman: The Dream Hunters with Yoshitaka Amano, the anthology The Sandman: Endless Nights with a roster of celebrated artists, and the later prequel The Sandman: Overture with J.H. Williams III. Decades after the original run, he helped curate The Sandman Universe titles, guiding a new generation of creators through the realm he had made famous.

Novels, Short Fiction, and Collaborations
Even as The Sandman unfolded, Gaiman moved decisively into prose. He co-wrote Good Omens (1990) with his close friend Terry Pratchett, an end-of-the-world comedy whose warmth and wit announced Gaiman as a novelist. He went on to craft Neverwhere (1996), a companion novel to a BBC series he co-created with Lenny Henry that envisioned a secret city beneath London; Stardust (1997), a modern fairy tale originally illustrated by Charles Vess; and American Gods (2001), a sprawling road novel about belief and identity in the United States that earned major genre awards. Anansi Boys (2005) extended his fascination with myth through a family comedy-thriller centered on trickster gods.

Gaiman's short fiction collections, Smoke and Mirrors, Fragile Things, and Trigger Warning, demonstrate his gift for compressed, resonant storytelling, while The View from the Cheap Seats gathers essays and speeches that reveal his advocacy for reading and the arts. He has also collaborated frequently with P. Craig Russell, whose graphic adaptations of Gaiman's stories have introduced them to new audiences.

Writing for Young Readers
Gaiman's works for younger readers are central to his reputation. Coraline (2002), a darkly luminous tale of a girl who finds an unsettling other world behind a door, became an instant classic and later a celebrated film. The Graveyard Book (2008), about a boy raised by the ghosts and guardians of a graveyard, earned both the Newbery Medal in the United States and the Carnegie Medal in the United Kingdom, a rare double that underscored his cross-generational appeal. The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013), though published as an adult novel, returns to the terrors and consolations of childhood with a lyrical intensity that made it one of his most personal works.

Picture books and early readers show Gaiman's ongoing partnerships with illustrators. He and Dave McKean created The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls, books that blend humor with the macabre. He worked with Charles Vess on Blueberry Girl, a poem for a friend transformed into a book, and with Adam Rex on the playful Chu's Day. Fortunately, the Milk married Gaiman's storytelling to art by Chris Riddell in the UK and Skottie Young in the US, showcasing his knack for tall tales.

Screen, Stage, and Beyond
Gaiman's stories have traveled widely across media, often with him close by. Coraline was adapted by director Henry Selick into a stop-motion film that captured the book's eerie charm. Stardust became a feature directed by Matthew Vaughn. American Gods was brought to television with Bryan Fuller and Michael Green as initial showrunners; Gaiman served as an executive producer and guide for translating its vast mythology. Good Omens, adapted after Terry Pratchett's death in a spirit of friendship and fidelity to their original novel, was written for television by Gaiman himself, who served as showrunner and worked closely with producing partners to shape its tone and themes.

The Sandman reached the screen through a series developed with Allan Heinberg and David S. Goyer, a long-gestating adaptation realized with Gaiman as a hands-on executive producer. On stage, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was adapted by London's National Theatre, and Gaiman's works have inspired radio dramas, audiobooks, and graphic adaptations, many guided by collaborators like P. Craig Russell.

Gaiman has also written for television directly, most notably two episodes of Doctor Who under showrunner Steven Moffat. The Doctor's Wife won widespread acclaim and a Hugo Award, confirming his ability to bring his sensibility into established worlds.

Teaching, Advocacy, and Public Voice
Beyond writing, Gaiman has worked as a teacher and public advocate for the arts. He joined Bard College in New York as a Professor in the Arts, mentoring students across disciplines. His 2012 commencement address at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, widely known as Make Good Art and designed in book form by Chip Kidd, distilled his advice on creativity, risk, and resilience. He has been a vocal champion of libraries, literacy, and freedom of expression, using his platform to support readers, librarians, and fellow writers around the world.

Personal Life
Gaiman has made his home on both sides of the Atlantic while keeping his British identity close. He was married to Mary McGrath, with whom he has three children, Michael, Holly, and Madeleine. In 2011 he married musician and performer Amanda Palmer; they have a son, Anthony, known as Ash. Friends and collaborators have been central throughout his life and career, notably Dave McKean, Karen Berger, Charles Vess, and above all Terry Pratchett, whose partnership and friendship helped launch Gaiman's long success in prose.

Legacy and Influence
Neil Gaiman's body of work bridges comics, novels, children's literature, television, and theater, anchored by a conviction that stories are tools for understanding the world. He has received numerous honors across genres, including Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Newbery, and Carnegie awards, and his books have been translated widely. Equally at home in the gothic, the whimsical, and the mythic, he remains a collaborator at heart, working with artists, editors, and producers to carry stories across forms. From The Sandman's dream-haunted pages to the tender adventures of Coraline and The Graveyard Book, Gaiman's work has helped define contemporary fantasy and has invited generations of readers to step through doors that open onto wonder.

Our collection contains 31 quotes who is written by Neil, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Truth - Puns & Wordplay - Music - Funny.

Other people realated to Neil: J. Michael Straczynski (Producer), Gene Wolfe (Writer), Steven Brust (Author), Terry Prachett (Author), Roger Zelazny (Writer), Jonathan Carroll (Author), Jon Hamm (Actor), John M. Ford (Writer), Colleen Atwood (Designer)