Brian McCabe was born in a small mining community near Edinburgh. He studied philosophy and English literature at Edinburgh University. He has lived as a freelance writer since 1980. He has held various writing fellowships, most recently at the University of Edinburgh. He was the Scottish/Canadian exchange fellow in 1988–89. His books have won several Scottish Arts Council book awards, and he won the Canongate Prize in 2000. He is currently editor of Edinburgh Review….
Zoë Marriott is the critically acclaimed author of eight feminist, diverse novels for young adults, which draw strongly on world mythology, fairytales and folklore. Her first book, The Swan Kingdom (Walker Books, 2007), based on Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘The Wild Swans’, was written when she was just twenty-one. It went on to become a USBBY Outstanding International book, was shortlisted for the Lincolnshire Young People’s book award, longlisted for the Branford Boase award, and was…
Jeremy Seal writes non-fiction books which combine travel and history, often taking the culture of Turkey – a life-long interest – as their inspiration. His books include: A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat (Picador, 1995) which was short-listed for the Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award; The Snakebite Survivors Club: Travels Among Serpents (Picador, 1999) which was a New York Public Library ‘Exceptional Book of the Year’; The…
…that stories have to bridge cultural, temporal, political and religious divides. Ann continues to blog about international literature at ayearofreadingtheworld.com. She has given a TED talk, and her literary journey has inspired and informed many personal and group ventures around the globe. As a result, she sits on English PEN’s PEN Translates funding panel and has helped draw up the longlists for several literary prizes, including the Commonwealth Foundation’s short story prize and the FT/OppenheimerFunds…
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…
Anita Mason is a novelist who is drawn to ideas but also enjoys telling a good story. Her books range widely in subject-matter and setting but have in common an interest in history, religion and the compromises imposed by politics. Her first novel Bethany ambiguously probes a high-minded commune in 1970s Cornwall; her second The Illusionist, shortlisted for the 1983 Booker prize, tracks the spectacular and scurrilous career of Simon Magus and the divisions among…
Jane Bingham is a versatile writer for children and teenagers. Over the past 12 years, she has written more than 100 books for publishers such as Usborne, Heinemann, Hodder and Penguin. While she believes that any subject can be made exciting for young readers, her main areas of interest are history and art. Her history books aim to inject a sense of fun into learning about the past, and include titles such as Welcome to…
Nicola Baldwin is a playwright and scriptwriter. Her first play Confetti won the 1993 George Devine award and Time Out award. Her work has been commissioned or produced by the Royal Court Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange, Sheffield Crucible, Bath Theatre Royal (The Egg), Unicorn Theatre and National Theatre Education, and plays include The Rib Cage (1998), 23.59 (1999) and All Saints (2013). She adapted Beowulf (2007) andMetropolis (2008) for large-scale youth theatre productions and has…
Following a dismal school ‘career’, David eventually read English at Cardiff in the 1970s and then taught in a Shropshire further education college for fifteen years. After a string of rejections and near misses, Night’s Black Agents was published by HarperCollins in 1993, and subsequently short-listed for the Crime Writers’ Association ‘Best First Crime Novel’ award. It was described by Philip Oakes in the Literary Review as ‘a tale of crime and punishment…
cast of professionals and ex-offenders, His Teeth, at the Only Connect space in 2011, was the London Evening Standard and Time Out critics’ choice and was nominated for an Offwestend.com award for best new play. He is now under commission to The Big House, a new company working with care-leavers. Much of his work is inspired by his international childhood — for example, his afternoon play for BBC Radio 4, The British Club (2012), starring…