Graham Joyce
Graham Joyce (22 October 1954 – 9 September 2014) was a British writer of speculative fiction and the recipient of numerous awards, including the O Henry Award, for both his novels and short stories. He grew up in a small mining village just outside of Coventry to a working-class family. After receiving a B.Ed. from Bishop Lonsdale College in 1977 and a M.A. from the University of Leicester in 1980. Joyce worked as a youth officer for the National Association of Youth Clubs until 1988. He subsequently quit his position and moved to the Greek islands of Lesbos and Crete to write his first novel, Dreamside. After selling Dreamside to Pan Books in 1991, Joyce moved back to England to pursue a career as a full-time writer. He was awarded a PhD by publication at Nottingham Trent University where he taught Creative Writing from 1996 until his death and was made a Reader in Creative Writing. Graham Joyce resided in Leicester with his wife, Suzanne Johnsen, and their two children, Ella and Joseph. Joyce was the regular first-choice goalkeeper for the England Writers football team, appearing in international fixtures against Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Hungary, Turkey and Austrian Writers teams. He described his footballing experiences in his non-fiction book Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular. Joyce died on 9 September 2014. He had been diagnosed with lymphoma in 2013.