Mimi Thebo

Mimi Thebo is an international writer for both children and adults. Her novels, often about recovery from trauma, are humorous and humane. Her first novel The Saint Who Loved Me was shortlisted for the McKitterick prize, and her novel for children Wipe Out was made into a Bafta-winning film.  Her work has been translated into seven languages.

Thebo’s PhD in creative writing concerned issues around transcultural representation and her novels about the American Midwest (Welcome to Eudora and The Corner Booth Chronicles) use humour to portray conflicts over race and sexual orientation in a small town. An early-reader book, Drawing Together, also uses humour and fantasy to discuss issues of marginalisation — this time for the very young — and has been translated into Serbian, Italian, Spanish and Korean.

A prize-winning poet, Thebo has also published many short stories, and several have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. For several years, she has been engaged in writing a memoir about her teenage experience of (briefly) dying in a car accident, and the subsequent lengthy hospitalisation. She is also writing several novels for young people, and two long stories for very early readers. Her research for the books includes learning about grizzly-bear hibernation, service dogs, and medieval abbey gardens. An experienced workshop leader, her passion for writing and communicating has led her to work with schools, libraries, museums and businesses.