Carson was born in 1946 in
Wallasey, in the north-west of England. He was brought up as a devout Catholic. After attending
Aberystwyth and
Oxford universities, and training at
International House World Organisation in London, he spent twenty years teaching
English as a Foreign Language primarily in the
Arab world. He has lectured in writing at
Liverpool John Moores University, the
University of Liverpool and the
University of Lancaster. He mentors for Crossing Borders, a project to encourage African writers. Carson won the Writers Inc prize in 2006 for his story
All over the Place. He has also worked as a
lifeguard.
Short stories Carson released a collection of short stories in 1993,
Serving Suggestions, published by Victor Gollancz (), which includes "The Punishment of Luxury". A further collection of short stories,
The Rule of Twelfths, was published by Headland in May 2008. Fifty short stories by Michael Carson have also featured on
BBC Radio Four. ==Novels==