Background
Steven Amsterdam was born and raised in New York City.
Steven Amsterdam was born and raised in New York City.
He attended Bronx High School of Science, the University of Chicago and the University of Melbourne.
He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he also works as a palliative care nurse He worked as a map editor, book jacket designer and pastry chef before moving to Australia in 2003. His writing has appeared in The Age, Conde Nast Traveller, Five Chapters, Huffington Post, Meanjin, The Monthly, Monument, Overland, Sleepers Almanac and Torpedo"s Greatest Hits.
Things We Didn"t See Coming was first published in Australia by Sleepers Publishing in 2009.
Alternately described as a novel or linked story collection, the book follows the narrator from year 2000 into the future. In 2010, the book was published by Pantheon Books in the United States, where it was a Barnes & Noble Great New Writer selection, and by Harvill Secker in the United Kingdom, where it was longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award.
The Guardian called the book "refreshingly unapocalyptic." Starting in 2011, the book was selected for the Victorian Certificate of Education for year 12 English. His books have been translated into Dutch, French, Italian and Hebrew.
2012International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, longlist for 2013, What the Family NeededAustralia Council for the Arts, recipient, Grant for New Work The Age Book of the Year, shortlist, What the Family NeededGriffith University, writer-in-residence Prime Minister"s Literary Awards, longlist, What the Family NeededALS Gold Medal, longlist, What the Family Needed • 2011Women"s Weekly Great Read selection, What the Family Needed Varuna Fellowship, Varuna, The Writers" House • 2010 Rosebank Fellowship, Writer"s VictoriaNew South Wales Premier"s Literary Awards for New Fiction, shortlist, Things We Didn"t See ComingThe Guardian First Book Award, longlist, Things We Didn"t See Coming Discover Great New Writers, Barnes & Noble, selection, Things We Didn"t See Coming • 2009The Age Book of the Year, Fiction Book of the Year, winner, Things We Didn"t See Coming.
