The Writers of Wales Database

ANDERSON, TOM

2 Waunlon, Porthcawl, CF36 5RT
Tel: 07779 146939
Email: tom_and1@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.tomandersonbooks.com/
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Tom Anderson grew up in Porthcawl, and was led into a writing career through journeys taken as a surfer. He studied at the University of Glamorgan before becoming a private investigator for over three years with London House Services. His debut travel memoir Riding the Magic Carpet told the story of a quest to visit South Africa and surf at the fabled ‘J-Bay’. Tom lives in South Wales and was the recipient of an Academi writer’s bursary for 2007 for his new book Chasing Dean, a mixture between novel and travelogue set against the backdrop of the Atlantic hurricane season, which was launched in Waterstones, Cardiff, in June 2009.

Tom’s main area of interest is travel, and he has written articles for New Welsh Review, Raconteur, DAPS Magazine, Planet, Wavelength, The Surfer’s Path, Fins Magazine, Tonnau Magazine, Cambria, the Times, the Western Mail, the Glamorgan Gazette and the Bridgend Recorder, as well as having a monthly column in The Seaside & Vale News. He is a qualified teacher and has lectured Creative Writing, as well as being a regular paper reviewer for BBC Radio Wales and running writing squads for a range of ages. Tom is a Member of Academi.

Reviews:
With respect to Riding the Magic Carpet (Summersdale, 2006)

"…An excellent first book that will surely appeal to more than the surf crowd. [Anderson] has a great eye for arresting detail and an ever-tuned ear for interesting remarks…"
Robert Minhinnick

With respect to Chasing Dean: Surfing America’s Hurricane States (Summersdale, 2009)

"…Anderson’s sharp and witty style, allied with a poignant exploration of the nature of friendship, takes his second book into contemporary Kerouac territory…"
The Times, June 6th, 2009


Selected Publications:
Riding the Magic Carpet (Summersdale, 2006)
Chasing Dean: Surfing America’s Hurricane States (Summersdale, 2009)
Grey Skies, Green Waves: A Surfer's Journey Around the UK and Ireland (Summersdale, 2010)
 



Riding the Magic Carpet (Summersdale, 2006)

The right-hand point at Jeffreys Bay is one of the surfing world’s most exciting finds, and from the age of twelve it had been my life’s purpose to surf there. J-Bay, South Africa – the fantasy, the almost mythical waves every surfer dreams of riding once in their lifetime. But Tom wouldn’t go until he was ready. He would seek out surf-spots from the virgin reef-breaks of the Outer Orkneys to the temple point-breaks of Indonesia, from the beautiful beaches of France to the wilds of Sri Lanka, on his quest to ride the waves of his dreams. Riding the Magic Carpet will do for surfing what Fever Pitch did for football. Get on the road. Get in the water. Get stoked.

To purchase this title from Summersdale and for further information, please click on its front cover

Chasing Dean: Surfing America’s Hurricane States (Summersdale, 2009)

Two childhood friends from small-town Wales meet in Miami for a summer road trip they've always dreamed of: to chase the swell of Hurricane Dean all the way up the US East Coast in search of once-in-a-lifetime surf. They embark on a hilarious journey of self-discovery and a travel experience like no other. Mixing the humour of Sideways with the extreme conditions of The Perfect Storm, this new book by one of the UK's favourite new travel/surfing writers is a quirky travelogue destined to become a cult classic.

To purchase this title from Summersdale and for further information, please click on its front cover