// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Meg Mason a bricklayer? She's a mason.
Meg Mason | |
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| Occupations |
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| Writing career | |
| Notable works | Sorrow and Bliss |
| Website | megmason |
Meg Mason is a New Zealand-born author and journalist. Her 2020 novel Sorrow and Bliss won the British Book Awards 2022 Fiction Book of the Year. Her latest novel, published in 2026, is Sophie, Standing There.
Early life and education
[edit]Meg Mason grew up in a religious sect in Foxton, New Zealand. She later moved to Palmerston North, and then to Sydney, Australia, at the age of 16.[1]
Career
[edit]Mason lived in the United Kingdom for five years, during which time she wrote for the Financial Times and The Times, before moving back to Sydney and starting a career as a freelance journalist. She has written for a number of magazines, including Vogue, Elle, and GQ.[2]
She published her first book Say It Again in a Nice Voice in 2012 and her first novel You Be Mother in 2017.[2]
Sorrow and Bliss is Mason's third book and the first to be released in the UK.[2] It won the British Book Awards 2022 Fiction Book of the Year.[3] It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Fiction Book of the Year in 2021[4] and the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2022,[2][5] and was nominated for the Ockham Award. It was given the "incredibly pejorative" label of "sad girl fiction",[1] which has been rejected by Mason. Amber Gwynne, who lectures in writing at the University of Queensland, called the story about a woman in the throes of a marriage breakdown "undeniably dark but famously funny".[6] Film and television rights for Sorrow and Bliss were sold to New Regency.[7]
In 2026 her new novel, Sophie, Standing There, the protagonist, who works for a literary festival becomes obsessed with a well-known writer. Mason created the "naturally cheerful" character of Sophie as a reaction to the labelling of her previous novel as sad girl fiction.[1][6]
Personal life
[edit]As of 2021[update] Mason was living in Sydney with her husband and two daughters.[8]
Bibliography
[edit]| Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Say It Again in a Nice Voice | HarperCollins | 978-0-7322-9352-9 | Memoir |
| 2017 | You Be Mother | Fourth Estate | 978-0-7322-9353-6 | Novel |
| 2020 | Sorrow and Bliss | Fourth Estate | 978-1-4607-5722-2 | Novel. Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year in 2022.[3] Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2022.[5] Shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Fiction Book of the Year in 2021.[4] |
| 2026 | Sophie, Standing There | Fourth Estate | 978-1-4607-6066-6 | Novel |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Love, loneliness and literary obsession: Meg Mason's new novel". RNZ. 15 August 2026. Archived from the original on 15 August 2026. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Mesure, Susie (11 June 2021). "Meg Mason on Sorrow and Bliss: 'I was surprised anyone found it funny. It's about suicide'". The i Paper. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- 1 2 Anderson, Porter (24 May 2022). "The 'Nibbies': The British Book Awards Name Their 2022 Winners". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 "ABIA 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 "'Sorrow and Bliss' shortlisted for 2022 Women's Prize". Books+Publishing. 28 April 2022.
- 1 2 Gwynne, Amber (3 August 2026), Meg Mason's novel about a sad, divorcing festival worker asks: can books save your life?, The Conversation, doi:10.64628/aa.mywpdr6dn
- ↑ "'Sorrow and Bliss' to be adapted for screen". Books+Publishing. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ↑ Clark, Alex (11 June 2021). "Meg Mason: 'Sorrow and Bliss was a post-hope project. I was convinced that no one would ever see it'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
