Author guide
Matt Haig is an English novelist, journalist, and nonfiction writer born in Sheffield in 1975. His work spans adult speculative fiction, children's and young-adult literature, memoir, mental-health writing, and business books. He is the author of The Midnight Library, The Humans, How to Stop Time, The Life Impossible, Reasons to Stay Alive, The Comfort Book, and the A Boy Called Christmas series. His work has been translated into dozens of languages, and he is an advocate for literacy, libraries, and improved mental-health provision.
Catalog record updated .
novel · First published 2026
No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were. For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away. He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything . . . A magical, time-travelling love story, from the world of The Midnight Library.
Not sure where to begin?
The strongest entry point to Haig's major adult speculative fiction and the Midnight World.
The clearest introduction to Haig's memoir and mental-health writing.
The first book in the Boy Called Christmas series.
The first book in the Shadow Forest series.
Read in order
series · completed
A two-book children's fantasy series about Samuel Blink, trolls, and the dangerous Shadow Forest.
Book 1 · children's novel · 2007
Book 2 · children's novel · 2008
The most evil creature in Shadow Forest, The Betterer, is furious when a troll boy escapes to be with human Samuel Blink. Samuel hides the troll under his bed but that won't stop the Betterer from coming to find them. Suggested level:…
series · ongoing
A children's Christmas fantasy series featuring Nikolas, Father Christmas, and the mouse Miika.
Book 1 · children's novel · 2015
Eleven-year-old Nikolas nicknamed Christmas has received only one toy in his life: a doll carved out of a turnip. But he s happy with his turnip doll, because it came from his parents, who love him. Then one day his father goes missing,…
Book 2 · children's novel · 2016
Settings: Victorian London; North Pole - Amelia Wishart is a lowly chimney sweep who despite her meager existence exudes the kind of hope providing thrust of Santa's sleigh. But when she is sent to the workhouse and her hope drains away,…
Book 3 · children's novel · 2017
The third book in the festive series from number one bestselling author Matt Haig, and featuring enchanting illustrations from Chris Mould
Book 4 · children's novel · 2021
Ratatouille meets Roald Dahl in the funny and fantastical story of a determined mouse on a mission to procure the world's tastiest cheese. From the author of A Boy Called Christmas–now a Netflix movie starring Kristen Wiig, Maggie Smith…
series · ongoing
A children's series about a truth-telling pixie learning self-acceptance and navigating school and friendship.
Book 1 · children's book · 2018
From number one bestselling author Matt Haig comes a hilarious and heartwarming story, brilliantly illustrated throughout by Chris Mould Wherever she is, whatever the day, She only has one kind of thing to say. Just as cats go miaow and…
Book 2 · children's book · 2019
Book 1 · children's novel · 2019
Ein tierisches Abenteuer von Bestsellerautor Matt Haig. "'Evie und die Macht der Tiere' vereint alle Zutaten, die ein gelungenes Kinderbuch ausmachen." Rufus Beck Evie hat ein Talent. Ein Supertalent. Sie kann hören, was Elefanten denken,…
Book 2 · children's novella · 2020
Twelve-year-old Evie has a talent. She can HEAR what animals are thinking and she can TALK to them with her mind. When Evie goes on a trip to the Amazon rainforest, her powers are put to the test. She makes friends with pink river…
series · ongoing
An adult speculative-fiction series of connected stories about time, regret, possibility, and second chances.
Book 1 · novel · 2020
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you…
Book 2 · novel · 2026
No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were. For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his…
Outside the series
nonfiction · 2002
nonfiction · 2003
This is the first examination of the world's top 100 spectacular brand disasters. It's not just smaller, lesser-known companies that have launched dud brands. On the contrary, most of the world's global giants have launched new products…
nonfiction · 2004
novel · 2004
FROM THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Meet the Hunter family: Adam, Kate, and their children Hal and Charlotte. And Prince, their Labrador. Prince is an earnest young dog, striving hard to live up to the tenets of the…
novel · 2006
A ghost story with a twist—a suspenseful and poignantly funny update of HamletA triumph of originality and humor, this clever novel by British author Matt Haig gives us Hamlet redux with an unforgettable voice all his own. When…
novel · 2008
Terence Cave, intellectual, music-lover and owner of Cave Antiques, has experienced more than his share of tragedies. His mother's suicide and his young wife's death at the hands of burglars left him to bring up his young twins alone. And…
novel · 2010
On a leafy street in the quiet Yorkshire village of Bishopthorpe lives a dysfunctional but happy family. Peter Radley is the village doctor, and his wife Helen is a member of the local book club. Their children Clara and Rowan are…
nonfiction · 2011
novel · 2013
When an extra-terrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University, the visitor is eager to…
nonfiction · 2013
DO YOU A) Know a human? B) Love a human? C) Have trouble dealing with humans? IF YOU'VE ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU Whether you are planning a high level of human interaction or just a casual visit to the…
young-adult novel · 2014
Set In the future where global warming has caused drastic changes to the world. Technology has improved and almost every home has its own echo (humanlike androids) to do menial work. Main character Audrey's father is against the use of…
novel · 2017
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as…
nonfiction · 2018
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library. The world is messing with our minds. What if there was something we could do about it? Looking at sleep, news, social media, addiction, work and play, Matt Haig…
nonfiction · 2021
“It is a strange paradox, that many of the clearest, most comforting life lessons are learnt while we are at our lowest. But then we never think about food more than when we are hungry and we never think about life rafts more than when we…
novel · 2024
When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. Among the rugged…
memoir · 2015
At the age of 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. A moving, funny and…
children's novel · 2012
Twelve-year-old Barney Willow gets his wish to be a cat but soon discovers that not all felines are cute and cuddly--some are downright evil--and his life is in grave danger, but his missing father may be able to help.
Matt Haig is an English author and journalist who writes fiction and nonfiction for adults, children, and young adults. He is also known for advocating literacy, libraries, and better mental-health provision.
Matt Haig was born in Sheffield, England. He studied English and History at the University of Hull, graduating in 1996.
Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)hull.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)
His experience of depression and anxiety directly informed his mental-health writing. Haig has also said that depression made him a more optimistic writer and strengthened his belief in the restorative power of books.
Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)
Haig has identified Graham Greene’s *The Power and the Glory* as an influence on his writing, while S. E. Hinton, Irvine Welsh, and Emily Dickinson have also been important to him as a reader.
Haig has won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Smarties Book Prize, and he has been nominated three times for the Carnegie Medal. *The Midnight Library* also won the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction.
Sources: kids.matthaig.com (opens in a new tab)canongate.co.uk (opens in a new tab)
