Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself (Boyle) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—1978
• Where—Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., State University of New York–New Paltz; M.F.A., University of Mississippi
• Awards—
• Currently—lives in Oxford, Mississippi


William Boyle is an American novelist and short story writer. Originally from Brooklyn, New York City, he lived with his mother's family, who were from Italy, in the Bensonhurst and Gravesend section of the boro. (Gravesend became the title of his 2014 novel.) Boyle's father, of Scottish descent, was mainly absent during his childhood.

Even as a child, Boyle says he was a disciplined writer, writing for 10-12 hours a day (when he had the time) at the age of 14. Boyle earned his B.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz and, later, his M.F.A. at the University of Mississippi, where he now teaches as an adjunct. He wrote his first novel, Gravesend, in 2011 for his master's thesis; it was published in 2013. The novel was also released in France, where it was nominated for Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, and in the UK, where it was shortlisted for the New Blood Dagger Award. The novel was re-released in the U.S.
in 2018.

In 2015, Boyle published a volume of short stories, Death Don’t Have No Mercy. A novel, Tout est Brise (Everything is Broken) was published in France in 2017. Another novel, The Lonely Witness came out in the U.S. in 2018, and A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself in 2019.

Boyle lives with his wife in Oxford, Mississippi; they have two children. (Adapted from various online sources. Retrieved 3/5/2019.)