Dea Birkett

Dea Birkett is a writer and broadcaster. Her books include Serpent in Paradise (1997), shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; Jella: From Lagos to Liverpool (1992), winner of the Somerset Maugham Award; Spinsters Abroad: Victorian Lady Explorers (2004), described by the Sunday Times as ‘subtle, acute, fascinating’ and Off the Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers (2004), written in conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery to accompany an exhibition of the same name. Dea also co-edited, with Sara Wheeler, Amazonian: The Penguin Book of Women’s New Travel Writing (1998). Her television work includes presenting and scripting ‘The Devil Amongst Us’ (Channel 4, 1998), ‘Circus Days, Circus Nights’ (Channel 4, 2000), and ‘Doctors Who Take Away Your Kids’ (Channel 4, 2004). She is a regular reviewer and commentator on Radio 4. She is a Guardian writer, and a weekly columnist in the paper. She is also a columnist for the Health Service Journal. Dea runs Travel Writing Workshops and has taught regularly at Arvon. She is founder of the Kids in Museums Campaign. In 2003, she was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature. Dea lives in London with her boyfriend and their three children.