Nathan Filer

{{short description|British writer (born 1980)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Nathan Filer | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1980}} | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Writer, Lecturer | language = | nationality = British | ethnicity = | religion = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = University of the West of England | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''The Shock of the Fall'' | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | awards = Costa Book of the Year<br/>Betty Trask Prize | signature = | signature_alt = | module = | website = | portaldisp = yes }}

'''Nathan Filer''' is a British writer best known for his debut novel, ''The Shock of the Fall''. This won several major literary awards, including the Costa Book of the Year<ref name=Costa>{{cite web|title=Nathan Filer wins Costa Book of the Year with debut novel|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25936187|publisher=BBC News|date=28 January 2014|accessdate=30 January 2014}}</ref> and the Betty Trask Prize.<ref name=Betty>{{cite web|author=Lisa Campbell|title=Filer and McBride among SoA award winners|url= http://www.thebookseller.com/news/filer-and-mcbride-among-soa-award-winners |work=The Bookseller|date=30 June 2014|accessdate=17 October 2014}}</ref> It was a ''Sunday Times'' Bestseller, and has been translated into thirty languages.<ref name=CW/>

==Life and career== Filer was born in Bristol in 1980. He attended the Ridings High School, a large secondary school located in the village of Winterbourne in South Gloucestershire.<ref>{{cite web|last=MacCormick|first=Ken|title=Bristol author Nathan Filer wins Costa Book of the Year award|url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-author-Nathan-Filer-wins-Costa-Book-Year/story-20513714-detail/story.html|newspaper=Bristol Post|date=29 January 2014|accessdate=30 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130091110/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-author-Nathan-Filer-wins-Costa-Book-Year/story-20513714-detail/story.html|archive-date=30 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2002 he trained as a psychiatric nurse gaining a first class degree in Mental Health Nursing from the University of the West of England<ref>{{cite web|title=Nathan Filer alumnus profile|url=http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/alumni/profiles/healthandappliedsciences/nathanfiler.aspx|publisher=University of the West of England|date=7 September 2015}}</ref> and later worked in mental health research at the University of Bristol.<ref name=CW>{{cite press release |first=Sophie |last=Lambert |title=Author: Nathan Filer |publisher=C&W Agency |url=https://cwagency.co.uk/client/nathan-filer |access-date=2026-03-23}}</ref>

He also worked as a performance poet contributing regularly to festivals and spoken-word events across the UK, including Glastonbury, Latitude, Shambala, Port Eliot and the Cheltenham Literature Festival. His poetry has been broadcast on television and radio, including BBC Radio 4's ''Bespoken Word'' and ''Wondermentalist Cabaret''.<ref name=apples>{{cite web|title=Nathan Filer|url=http://www.applesandsnakes.co.uk/page/84/Nathan+Filer/148|publisher=Apples & Snakes|accessdate=19 October 2014}}</ref>

''The Shock of the Fall'' describes the life of a boy from Bristol dealing with his grief at the death of his brother, and experience of mental health care services for schizophrenia.<ref name=brown>{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Mark|title=Costa book award won by Nathan Filer for debut novel, The Shock of the Fall|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/28/costa-book-award-nathan-filer|accessdate=30 January 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=28 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Clark|first=Nick|title=Costa Book of the Year: Debut novelist Nathan Filer is shock winner of prestigious prize|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/costa-book-of-the-year-debut-novelist-nathan-filer-is-shock-winner-of-prestigious-prize-9091864.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/costa-book-of-the-year-debut-novelist-nathan-filer-is-shock-winner-of-prestigious-prize-9091864.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=30 January 2014|newspaper=The Independent|date=28 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chilton|first=Martin|title=The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer, review|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/fictionreviews/10110471/The-Shock-Of-The-Fall-by-Nathan-Filer-review.html|accessdate=30 January 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=7 January 2014}}</ref> Reviewing the book in ''The Psychologist'', Caroline Flurey writes, "This is a beautifully poignant book, written with sympathy and sensitivity, well deserving of its Costa Book of the Year award."<ref>Fluery, C. (2014), "Beautifully poignant", ''The Psychologist'', Vol. 27, No. 6, June 2014, p. 460.</ref>

Filer has written on a range of issues for ''The Guardian''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Nathan Filer|title=Mental Health Care: where did it all go so wrong?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/25/nathan-filer-mental-health-care-where-did-it-go-wrong|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 January 2014|accessdate=11 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Nathan Filer|title=Why you should ignore the superlatives on book jackets|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/31/book-covers-ignore-superlatives|newspaper=The Guardian|date=31 July 2014|accessdate=11 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Nathan Filer|title=My Hero: Malala Yousafzai|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/07/malala-yousafzai-my-hero-nathan-filer|newspaper=The Guardian|date=7 February 2014|accessdate=11 February 2015}}</ref> A story he wrote for ''The New York Times''<ref>{{cite web|title=Rules of Engagement|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/magazine/rules-of-engagement.html|author=Nathan Filer|newspaper=The New York Times|date=21 November 2014|accessdate=11 February 2015}}</ref> that described working with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine was adapted for an episode of the Israeli prime time radio show, ''Israel Story'', featuring Filer and his partner.<ref>{{cite web|title=Episode 12 Now Boarding|url=http://israelstory.org/en/episode/12-now-boarding/|date=2016|accessdate=25 July 2017}}</ref> He has also been a panelist on the BBC Radio 2 ''Book Club'', BBC Radio 3's ''Free Thinking'' and BBC Radio 4's ''Open Book'', ''Front Row'', ''All in the Mind'' and the ''Today Programme''. In 2017 he presented an ''Archive on 4'' documentary entitled ''The Mind in the Media'' in which he explored representations of mental illness and their impact.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Mind in the Media|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08hl265|publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=4 March 2017}}</ref> This was shortlisted for a Mind Media Award in the best radio programme category.<ref name=mind>{{cite web|title=Mind Media Awards 2017 The Shortlist|url=http://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/mind-media-awards/mind-media-awards-2017-shortlist/|publisher=Mind|date=16 October 2017}}</ref>

Nathan Filer's first book of non-fiction, ''The Heartland: Finding and Losing Schizophrenia,'' was published by Faber and Faber in 2019. It was a ''Sunday Times'' Book of the Year<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/sunday-times-best-thought-books-of-the-year-2019-9hh0x8zlq|title=The Sunday Times best thought books of the year 2019|last=McConnachie|first=James|newspaper=The Times|date=2019-12-01|access-date=2019-12-05|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> and the charity, Rethink Mental Illness, named it as one of their Mental Health Books of the Decade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Rethink_/status/1209108260990705665|title=The last in our instalment of our #mentalhealth books of the decade is The Heartland by @nathanfiler Here's our Senior Media Officer, Patrick, with his thoughts pic.twitter.com/VEx7MmXxeA|last=Illness|first=Rethink Mental|date=2019-12-23|website=@Rethink_|language=en|access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> It was also longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize.<ref name="rathbonesfolioprize.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rathbonesfolioprize.com/the-2020-shortlist-2-3-2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328142824/https://www.rathbonesfolioprize.com/the-2020-shortlist-2-3-2/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=28 March 2020|title = 2020 | the Rathbones Folio Prize}}</ref>

In 2021, Filer presented a five-part podcast series called ''Why Do I Feel?'' This was a ''Financial Times'' Top 10 podcast of the year.<ref name=FT>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Podcasts of 2021|url=https://www.ft.com/content/204b3456-362a-4f0b-b2d9-2935bf69ab36|publisher=FT|accessdate=17 October 2024}}</ref> It was praised by the paper for 'counterbalancing bleak stories with moments of levity, successfully steering clear of the clichés of most mental health podcasts'.<ref name=FT2>{{cite web|title=A thoughtful new podcast asks Why Do I Feel?|url=https://www.ft.com/content/4e47a76e-6cf5-43aa-9e24-326e1d7f8bd3|publisher=FT|accessdate=17 October 2024}}</ref> It also won a silver award at the 2022 Radio Academy ARIAS in the 'Best Independent Podcast' category.

Filer is the recipient of the honorary degree of Master of Letters from the University of the West of England<ref name=UWE>{{cite web|title=UWE awards Honorary Degree to Nathan Filer|url=http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/uwenews/news.aspx?id=3148|publisher=University of the West of England|date= 23 July 2015|accessdate=12 August 2015}}</ref> and the honorary degree of Doctor of Liberal Arts from Abertay University.<ref name=Abertay>{{cite web|title=Award-winning author Nathan Filer to receive Honorary degree at Abertay|url=http://www.abertay.ac.uk/about/news/newsarchive/2015/name,26165,en.html|publisher=Abertay University|date=25 November 2015|accessdate=30 November 2015}}</ref> These degrees were conferred in recognition of his role in raising awareness through literature and his commitment to mental health care.<ref name=UWE/><ref name=Abertay/>

He holds a master's degree and PhD from Bath Spa University, where he is a Reader in Creative Writing.<ref name=BSU>{{cite web|title=Our People Dr Nathan Filer|url=https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/our-people/nathan-filer/|publisher=Bath Spa University|accessdate= 11 July 2023}}</ref>

==Books== *''The Shock of the Fall'' (HarperFiction, 2013; The Borough Press, 2014) *''The Heartland'' (also published as ''This Book will Change Your Mind about Mental Health'' <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/nathan-filers-mental-health-book-rebranded-paperback-1088071|title=Faber to rebrand Nathan Filer's mental health book {{!}} The Bookseller|website=www.thebookseller.com|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>) (Faber, 2019)

==Audio== *''Why Do I Feel?'' (Bite Your Tongue Productions, 2021)<ref name=FT2/>

==Awards and honours== *2013 Costa Book Awards First Novel Award for ''The Shock of the Fall''<ref name=Costa/> *2013 Costa Book Awards Book of the Year for ''The Shock of the Fall''<ref name=Costa/> *2014 Betty Trask Prize winner for ''The Shock of the Fall''<ref name=Betty/> *2014 Specsavers National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year for ''The Shock of the Fall''<ref>{{cite web|title=Bath Spa University Lecturer Nathan Filer recognised at the Specsavers National Book Awards 2014|url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-Spa-University-lecturer-Nathan-Filer/story-24838852-detail/story.html|newspaper=Bath Chronicle|date=28 November 2014|accessdate=30 November 2014}}</ref> * 2014 Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB Awards) Best First Novel for ''The Shock of the Fall''<ref>{{cite web|title=Writers' Guild Awards: Winners Announced|url=http://www.writersguild.org.uk/news-a-features/events/564-writers-guild-awards-2014-winners-announced|accessdate=21 January 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121091003/http://www.writersguild.org.uk/news-a-features/events/564-writers-guild-awards-2014-winners-announced|archivedate=21 January 2015}}</ref> * 2015 Honorary Degree of Master of Letters from the University of the West of England<ref name=UWE/> * 2015 Honorary Doctorate of Liberal Arts from Abertay University<ref name=Abertay/> * 2017 Mind Media Awards Radio Category shortlisted for ''The Mind in the Media''<ref name=mind/> * 2020 Rathbones Folio Prize longlist for ''The Heartland''<ref name="rathbonesfolioprize.com"/> * 2022 Radio Academy ARIAS Silver Award for ''Why Do I Feel?''

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{Official website}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filer, Nathan}} Category:British writers Category:Academics of Bath Spa University Category:Psychiatric nurses Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)