Polly Morland

Polly Morland is a writer and documentary maker. She is the author of four narrative non-fiction books, including The Society of Timid Souls: Or, How to Be Brave (Profile, 2013) which won a Royal Society of Literature/Jerwood award, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book award and was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. Her latest book, A Fortunate Woman (Picador, 2022), is shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2022.

Polly is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines. Her essay, ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero: The Need for Individual Courage’, appeared in The Importance of Ideas (Guardian Shorts, 2014); her audio essay, ‘Taking Risks’, featured on BBC Radio 4’s The Human Zoo. She has delivered talks, workshops and keynote lectures at numerous conferences and institutions, as well as collaborating with academics and artists on writing projects, including a play commissioned by the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Prior to writing her books, Polly Morland worked in television, producing and directing documentary films for the BBC, Channel Four and Discovery.

Polly Morland is an award-winning author and documentary maker. After fifteen years working for the BBC, Channel Four and Discovery, she went on to write four non-fiction books, including the Sunday Times bestseller, A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. Polly was the RLF Fellow (2020-23) at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media & Culture, where she now works with students on the documentary pathway of the MA International Journalism. She is a passionate advocate for the many ways that learning to write well can help students not just in the classroom or at university, but more generally in life.