Gordon Korman at a Glance

Full Name: Gordon Korman

Pronunciation: GOR-duhn KOR-muhn

Born: October 23, 1963

Nationality: Canada, United States

Education:

• New York University (BFA)

Genres:

• Middle grade fiction
• Humor
• Historical fiction
• Adventure
• Mystery

Biography & Background

Gordon Korman Biography

Gordon Korman is the best-selling author of over 100 books for young readers. Korman spent his early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, before moving to Thornhill, Ontario, in 1970, when he was seven. He later moved to the US to attend New York University, where he received a BFA in 1985.

Korman’s career in writing and publishing began when he was just 12 years old. His track and field coach was assigned to cover an English class. He allowed the students to spend the time writing whatever they chose, and Korman used this unstructured writing time to write his first novel, This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall. The novel was published by Scholastic Books when Korman was a high school freshman. Before finishing high school, he had written and published five books.

Korman continued to write and publish books for young readers while at college, and writing has been his career ever since. To date, he has published 105 books that collectively have sold over 35 million copies worldwide. His book Swindle was adapted as a movie that aired on Nickelodeon in 2013.