Marc Joan: Author | Publications and contact details for the author Marc Joan

Marc Joan – Author

I am Marc Joan. I live in England. I write fiction.

Some of my writing draws on my upbringing in India. Some of it is inspired by my travels in Europe and the USA. And some of it is informed by my career in biomedical research.

If you want to know more about my work, please see the ‘Bibliography’ page for a list of publications and placements, ‘The Blogpile’ page for relevant news, and the ‘Extracts’ page for some brief excerpts.

If you want to know more about me, please scroll down this page for a short biography. Alternatively, please read this interview in SmokeLong Quarterly — Smoke and Mirrors; or this one with Pamela Robertson — BooksLifeEverything (scroll down to Sep 21st, 2022); or this one with Linda Hill — LindasBookBag ; or this ‘Spotlight’ feature (scroll to Oct 12th, 2022) on TNBBC — Indie Spotlight ; or this interview in Punt Volat Magazine — Punt Volat Interview; or this interview on the Exeter Writers website — Exeter Writers Competition Winner. You can also read my thoughts on how stories come into being, with specific reference to ‘The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man’, at the amazing writers’ website ‘writing.ie’: find the article here. The same people have kindly given a home to my mumblings about making the move from short stories to novels: find the article here.

If you want to get in touch, please go to the ‘Contact’ page.

Biography

Marc Joan spent the early part of his life in India, and the early part of his career in biomedical research. He draws on this and other experience for his fiction, which has been published in magazines including Lighthouse Literary Journal, Structo, Bohemyth, Smokelong Quarterly, Hypnos, Chroma, Madcap Review, Danse Macabre, The Apeiron Review, STORGY, Literary Orphans, Bookends Review, Sci Phi, Roads Less Travelled, Weird Horror (Undertow Publications), The Dread Machine, Sein und Werden, Nightscript and The Deadlands. His novelette, ‘The Speckled God’, was published by Unsung Stories in Feb 2017; he is a contributor to the forthcoming Comma Press anthology ‘Mirror in the Mirror’, the Night Terror Novels anthology Ceci n’est pas une histoire d’horreur, the DBND anthology ‘Ghost Stories for Starless Nights’ and the forthcoming Midnight Street Press anthology, ‘Swan Song’. His first novel, ‘Hangdog Souls’, was published by Deixis Press in July 2022, and his second novel, ‘The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man’, was published by Deixis Press in November 2023.

Marc has been placed in various competitions as follows: he was a finalist in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2017/2018; Runner Up in the Ink Tears Short Story Competition 2017/18; received a Special Mention in the Galley Beggar Short Story Competition 2017/18; longlisted for the Brighton Prize 2017; reached the last 60 (from nearly 1,000 entries) of the 2018 BBC National Short Story Award; received an Honourable Mention (placed in the top 4%) in the 2020 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize; was winner of the 2020 Punt Volat Short Story Competition, and finalist in the same competition with a second entry; was longlisted in the 2020 William van Dyke Short Story Prize (one of 20 semi-finalists from over 400 entries); achieved Highly Commended in the Gatehouse Press New Fiction Prize, 2020; was finalist / selected for publication in the 2020/21 Aesthetica Creative Writing Award; was shortlisted in the 2021 Short Fiction / University of Essex International Short Story Competition (one of seven short-listed from ~780 entries); was long-longlisted in the 2021 Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize; proceeded to the second round (top 5% of entries) of the 2021 Bridport Short Story Prize; had two stories longlisted in the 2021 Exeter Story Prize; had three stories longlisted, one of which was also shortlisted, in the 2023/24 Fish Publishing Short Story Prize; was winner of the 2024 Exeter Writers Short Story Competition (and had a second story achieve Highly Commended in the same competition); and had two stories shortlisted in the 2024 Yeovil Literary Prize. Marc lives in England with his family, and can be contacted via this website.