Alex George is a writer, a teacher, and a bookseller. He was born in England, but presently lives in Boston, where he teaches creative writing and literature as a Writer in Residence at Emerson College.
His novel, A Good American, was published by Amy Einhorn Books, an imprint of Penguin/Putnam, in February 2012. It was a #1 Indie Next Pick, a Barnes and Noble Discover New Writers Pick, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, a Midwest Connections Pick, and a a Library Journal Best Book of the Year.
Setting Free The Kites was published in 2017, also by Penguin. It was an Indie Next Pick, a Barnes and Noble Best Fiction Pick, a Library Reads Choice and a Midwest Connection Pick. It won the Missouri Prize for Fiction in 2018.
His most recent novel, The Paris Hours, was published by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan, on May 5, 2020 (slap bang in the middle of the pandemic!) It was an Indie Next Pick, a Book of the Month selection, and (ahem) an amazon best book of the month.
In addition to his novels, Alex’s work has appeared in The Washington Post, Literary Hub, and numerous other publications. His books have been translated into more than ten languages and have been published around the world.
Alex owns an independent bookshop, Skylark Bookshop, in Columbia, Missouri, which was named by USA Today as one of the country’s 30 coolest bookstores, and is featured in the book 150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before you Die. In 2022, Alex was named Midwest Independent Bookseller of the Year.
He is also the founder of The Unbound Book Festival, of which he was the executive director for the first ten years of its existence. Past guests have included Michael Ondaatje, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, George Saunders, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Ross Gay, Emily St. John Mandel, Min Jin Lee, and Terry Tempest Williams.
Alex read law at Oxford University and worked for eight years as a corporate lawyer in London and Paris. After moving to the United States in 2003, he ran his own law firm for more than twenty years, practicing estate planning and trust law.
Alex is married to the writer, professor, and critic, Alexandra Socarides.
