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Helen Grant

Novelist, Short-story writer

Helen Grant writes Gothic thrillers for a crossover (young adult/adult) audience. She draws on atmospheric locations and local folklore for inspiration; her books are distinctive for their international settings. Her first novel, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, was published by Penguin in 2009; it was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the Booktrust Teenage prize, and won an ALA Alex award in the USA. Since then, Helen has written a further five novels, including Urban Legends, published by Random House in 2015.

In addition to her novels, Helen writes ghost stories for adults. A first collection of these, The Sea Change & Other Stories, was published by Swan River Press in 2013.

A lifelong enthusiast of the stories of M.R. James, Helen has also written a number of essays about them for the small press literary journal the Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter. She has a particular interest in James’s foreign story locations, most of which she has visited. Her paper about the demonology of one of these stories was well received at the M.R. James and the Modern Ghost Story symposium in 2015.

Helen enjoys coaching others and has taught English as a second language in the UK and Germany. She has also run sessions about getting published for budding authors.
Born in London, Helen has lived in Spain, Germany and Flanders. She now lives in Perthshire, Scotland, with her husband and two children; she spends her spare time visiting ancient churches and ruined castles, looking for fresh inspiration.

Helen Grant

Fellowships

University of Stirling 2016-19
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