Bill Kirton

Bill Kirton is an award-winning author of novels, short stories, stage and radio plays and five books on study, work and writing skills in Pearson’s Brilliant series. The third in his series of five crime novels The Darkness won silver (for mystery) in the 2011 Forward national literature awards while his satire The Sparrow Conundrum came first in the humour category. In 2012 it also won the readers’ choice award for humour on a major USA review website. His historical novel The Figurehead was longlisted for the international Rubery award in 2012, three of his short stories were selected for the Crime Writers’ Association’s annual anthologies in 1999, 2004 and 2006, and ‘Love Hurts’ was included in the Mammoth Book of Best British Crime (2010). He has also won a British Comparative Literature Association prize for his verse translation of Molière’s Sganarelle.

Before taking early retirement, Bill was a lecturer in French at the University of Aberdeen. He was one of the first RLF fellows in Scotland, holding the post at Robert Gordon University and the universities of Dundee and St Andrew’s. The books for Pearson were commissioned as a direct result of his work as a Fellow. He also co-authored a book on essay writing Just Write with Kathleen McMillan, who was his fellowship co-ordinator in Dundee.

He has directed and acted in stage plays and reviews, worked in TV and radio, and been invited to the USA on several occasions to direct plays and give classes on creative writing and theatre.

Bill Kirton has written short stories, radio and stage plays, novels, and non-fiction books on writing, studying and workplace skills. He was a lecturer in the French Department at Aberdeen University and, after taking early retirement, became an RLF Writing Fellow at the Robert Gordon University and the universities of Dundee and St Andrews. With Katie Grant, he was the co-ordinator of the Bridge from 2014 to 2017 and has been a Bridge Fellow in schools in Dundee, Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Ellon, and Kirkwall. He was instrumental in setting up the Bridge’s very successful annual collaboration with the organisers of the LEAPS Summer School.