But despite his early interest in literature, it
was science where Andrew decided his future lay… for
a while, at least.
Born in Glasgow in 1962, Andrew went on to study
for a first class honours degree in mathematics and
theoretical physics at St Andrew’s University
before becoming a research associate at Leeds University.
Realising he had gone as “far in science as he
wanted to go”, he took up a position at Westfield
School in Gosforth, Newcastle, teaching mathematics
and physics. But he found himself drawn back to his
first love, writing, jotting ideas down in between
lessons.
This ‘jotting’ led to Andrew’s
first novel, Music in a Foreign Language,
which was published in 1994 and won the prestigious
Saltire First Book Award. The success continued with D’Alembert’s
Principle, Pfitz and Mr Mee but
it was his 2004 novel, the Man Booker Prize-nominated Mobius
Dick, which led to Andrew being hailed as one
of Britain’s most promising original writers.
Alongside his writing, in 1996 Andrew became a regular
book reviewer for Scotland on Sunday and was
appointed literary editor in 2000. He has also taught
creative writing workshops at Newcastle and Northumbria
Universities, and at Morden Tower, and his work featured
in a recently published anthology of North East writers, Magnetic
North.
After several years of commuting to Edinburgh, winning
the award means that Andrew can give up his day job. “I
entered the competition with the hope that I would
win but it was still a fantastic surprise to receive
the call telling me that I had been chosen. It took
a while to sink in," he says. "For the last
six years I've been juggling a part-time job as literary
editor of Scotland on Sunday along with writing
my novels and helping bring up two young children.
Now I can concentrate all my working hours on writing,
and I can also have more time for the things that make
writing worthwhile, including being with my family."
Those extra hours of writing freedom will mean that
Andrew will also be able to spend more time with Robert
Coyle, the star of his new novel, Sputnik Caledonia,
the work-in-progress which won him the award.
For more information about Andrew and his work,
see www.crumey.co.uk.
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