Martine McDonagh

Martine McDonagh is a fiction writer with a particular interest in characters who have survived trauma. Her most recent novel Narcissism for Beginners (Unbound /PRH, 2018) charts the coming of age of Sonny, who was kidnapped by his guru father and taken to live in Brazil. It was optioned by Hat Trick Productions for TV, for which Martine wrote the treatment, and was published in Germany as Familie und andere Trostpreise (HarperCollins, 2018). Her first novel I Have Waited, and You Have Come (Myriad Editions, 2012) is the story of a lone woman trying to survive in a climate-changed environment. Martine’s work has been longlisted for the Authors’ Club first novel award, nominated for The Guardian Not The Booker prize and shortlisted for the People’s Book prize. For many years Martine worked in the music industry and has taught Music Business Professional Practice at BIMM in Brighton and Canterbury Christ Church University. This gave her valuable experience of working with creative students and insight into the particular difficulties they can sometimes experience with academic writing. Martine also designed and ran the MA Creative Writing & Publishing at West Dean College in Sussex (validated by Sussex University). Martine has also worked as a script consultant for the filmmaker Kyoko Miyake and is currently writing a screenplay on the MA Scriptwriting programme at Goldsmiths College and developing a TV series about women’s football.