Louise Emma Joseph (born 1965), known professionally as Dreda Say Mitchell, is a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, broadcaster, journalist and campaigner. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

for her services to literature and educational work in prison.

Background

Mitchell is a best-selling and award-winning crime author, broadcaster, journalist and campaigner who grew up on a housing estate in the East End of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Her parents are from the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

. She attended Bishop Challoner Girls’ School and went on to receive a BA (Hons) in African history from

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

, the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

She also has a MA in education studies from the University of North London. For twenty-five years she worked as a teacher and education consultant in London with a special focus on raising the educational achievement of children from minority ethnic and working-class backgrounds. ''The Times Education Supplement'': "Mitchell gives a voice to the working class communities she grew up in."

Career

Mitchell's writing career started on a creative writing course at

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

's Groucho Club where she began writing her debut novel ''Running Hot''. Her debut was awarded the Memorial

John Creasey John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English author known mostly for detective and crime novels but who also wrote science fiction, romance and westerns. He wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different p ...

Dagger, CWA, in 2005, the first time a Black British author has scooped this award. She has since written seventeen crime books, many with her writing partner Tony Mason, including their international best-selling psychological thriller, ''Spare Room''.

Lee Child James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes Thriller (genre), thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher (book series), Jack Reacher'' novel series. The boo ...

describes her work, "As good as it gets. Mitchell is English fiction’s brightest new voice." Her Gangland Girls Crime series has been a No.1 crime series on Amazon. She has also written a Quick Read for The Reading Agency as part of their drive to enhance reading skills among hard to reach communities. She has been a judge on the

National Book Awards The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...

Awards and The John Creasey Dagger. She was the 2011 chair of the Harrogate Theakston Crime Fiction Festival, Europe’s largest crime festival. Mitchell and Mason were part of

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

ground-breaking Arts50 in 2019.

Agatha Christie

Mitchell is one of 12 contemporary female writers – also including

Val McDermid Valarie McDermid (born 4 June 1955) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of novels featuring clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill and his collaborators in the police department. Her work is considered to be part of a sub-genre k ...

Naomi Alderman Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist, Game design, game writer, and television executive producer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel ''The Power (Alderman novel), The Power'', which won the Women's Prize f ...

Kate Mosse Katherine Louise Mosse (born 1961) is a British novelist, non-fiction and short story writer and broadcaster. She is best known for her 2005 novel ''Labyrinth'', which has been translated into more than 37 languages. She co-founded in 1996 th ...

, Elly Griffiths and Ruth Ware – chosen as contributors to a new anthology featuring

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's fictional character

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

Journalism

Mitchell is also a social and cultural commentator who has presented BBC Radio 4’s, Open Book and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

’s The Sunday Feature exploring life on housing estates. Her television appearances include '' Question Time'', ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

'', ''The Review Show'', ''Front Row Late'', ''

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One every morning from 6:00am. It is also broadcast on the UK feed of BBC News channel on weekends. The simulcast is presented live, ...

'', '' The Victoria Derbyshire Show'' and Canada's ''Sun News Live''. Her radio credits include

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''Front Row'', ''Saturday Review'', ''Vanessa'', ''The Simon Mayo Show'', ''Four Thought'' and ''Nightwaves''. For many years she reviewed the newspapers on '' The Nolan Show'', BBC 5 Live. Mitchell has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', on issues including "race", culture and class. Mitchell appeared for the pro-Brexit side on a number of televised debates.

Educational work

Mitchell was commissioned by the

Youth Justice Board The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) () is a non-departmental public body created by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to oversee the youth justice system for England and Wales. Its purposes are set out in section 41 of that Act. It ...

to facilitate ''Write-on'', a pilot creative writing and mentoring project in

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston (UK Parliament constituency), Felt ...

and Cookham Wood YOIs focusing on children of African-Caribbean, mixed heritage and white working-class backgrounds. One of the students was awarded three Koestler awards, including the inaugural Peter Selby Award for Under-18 Creative Writing. Mitchell continues to work in prisons as a guest speaker and delivering creative writing workshops.

Awards and honours

* MBE in Her Majesty The Queen's

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, for services to literature and education work in prisons. * The Memorial John Creasey Dagger, Crime Writers' Association, 2005, the first time a Black British writer has scooped this honour. * World Book Night Selection, ''Geezer Girls'', 2014. * Contributor in the multi-award winning ''Books To Die For'' anthology, 2014 * 50 Remarkable Women in Britain, Lady Geek in association with Nokia, 2012 * Silver Contribution Award, Calabash, 2011

Charities

* Trustee, The Royal Literary Fund. * Ambassador, The Reading Agency. * Patron, SI Leeds Literary Prize for unpublished fiction by Black and Asian women.

Bibliography

* ''Running Hot'', MAIA Press, 2004 * ''Killer Tune'', Hodder, 2007

Gangland Girl Series

* ''Geezer Girls'', Hodder, 2009 * ''Gangster Girl'', Hodder, 2010 * ''Hit Girls'', Hodder, 2011

DI Rio Wray Thriller Series

* ''Vendetta'', Hodder, 2014 * ''Death Trap'', Hodder, 2015 * ''Snatched'' (e-novella), Hodder, 2015

Flesh and Blood Series

* ''Blood Sister'', Hodder, 2016 * ''Blood Mother'', Hodder, 2017 * ''Blood Daughter'', Hodder, 2017 * ''Blood Secrets'', Mitchell and Joseph, 2018 * ''One False Move'' (novella), Quick Read, 2017

Psychological Standalones

* ''Spare Room'', Bloodhound Books, 2019 * ''Trap Door'', Bloodhound Books, 2020 * ''Say Her Name'', Amazon Publishing, 2022

Big Mo Crime Series

* ''Dirty Tricks'', Mitchell and Joseph, 2020 * ''Fight Dirty'', Mitchell and Joseph, 2020 * ''Wicked Women'', Mitchell and Joseph, 2021

References

External links

*
Dreda Say Mitchell at Amazon

Dreda Say Mitchell at ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Dreda Say 1965 births Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of London Metropolitan University Alumni of SOAS University of London Black British women writers Black British writers English crime fiction writers Living people British women novelists English people of Grenadian descent 21st-century British women writers 21st-century British novelists British women mystery writers