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Melanie McGrath is a
Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...
-born English non-fiction writer and crime novelist.


Early life

Born in
Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...
, McGrath's parents moved several times during her childhood; to
Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
in Essex, then to a village in Germany, to Kent, then north to Lancashire, and south again to Buckinghamshire. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
.


Career

She won the
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political communi ...
in 1995 for her non fiction book ''Motel Nirvana'', which examined the
New Age movement New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...
, and detailed McGrath's travels around the American states of
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
and Arizona.Booktrust - John Llewellyn Prize archive
Her other non-fiction books have explored the "
Information Age The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during t ...
" (''Hard, Soft and Wet''), 20th century
British social history English society comprises the group behaviour of the English people, and of collective social interactions, organisation and political attitudes in England. The social history of England evidences many social and societal changes over the hist ...
, (''Hopping'' and ''Silvertown'') and the non-fiction book, ''The Long Exile'' about the
High Arctic relocation The High Arctic relocation (french: La délocalisation du Haut-Arctique, iu, ᖁᑦᑎᒃᑐᒥᐅᑦᑕ ᓅᑕᐅᓂᖏᑦ, Quttiktumut nuutauningit) took place during the Cold War in the 1950s, when 92 Inuit were moved by the Government of Ca ...
. In recent years McGrath has written crime novels, including a trilogy set in the Arctic with Inuit detective Edie Kiglatuk, and the standalone thriller ''Give Me the Child''. As a book reviewer and travel writer, she has written for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'' and ''
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 publishe ...
'' among other publications. McGrath has taught
creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
at the universities of
Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Roehampton was formerly an e ...
and
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and S ...
as well as at The
Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Ch ...
. McGrath lives in London and on the Kent coast.


Bibliography


Non fiction

*1996 - ''Motel Nirvana'' Flamingo *1998 - ''Hard, Soft and Wet'' Flamingo *2002 - ''Silvertown'', Fourth Estate *2006 - ''The Long Exile'', Fourth Estate *2009 - ''Hopping'', Fourth Estate *2018 - ''Pie & Mash down the Roman Road'', Two Roads


Crime fiction

Edie Kiglatuk trilogy *2011 - ''White Heat'', Mantle (as M.J. McGrath) *2012 - ''The Boy in the Snow'', Mantle (as M.J. McGrath) *2014 - ''The Bone Seeker'', Fourth Estate (as M.J. McGrath) Standalone *2017 - ''Give Me the Child'', HarperCollins (as Mel McGrath) *2019 - ''The Guilty Party'', HarperCollin (as Mel McGrath)


References


External links


Official site
Living people English non-fiction writers English crime fiction writers English journalists English travel writers British women travel writers English literary critics Women literary critics John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Alumni of the University of Oxford Writers from London People from Romford Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-writer-stub