Louise Welsh
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Louise Welsh (born 1 February 1965 in London) is an English-born author of short stories and
psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...
s, resident in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, Scotland. She has also written three plays, an opera, edited volumes of prose and poetry, and contributed to journals and anthologies. In 2004, she received the
Corine Literature Prize The Corine – International Book Prize, as it is officially called, is a German literature prize created by the Bavarian chapter of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, first awarded in 2001. It is awarded to German and international "au ...
.


Education

Welsh studied history at
Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
and after graduating established and worked at a second-hand bookshop for several years before publishing her first novel.


Career

Welsh's debut novel ''
The Cutting Room The Cutting Room is a music venue in New York City that was open at 19 West 24th Street from late 1999 through January 2009 for music of all varieties, and reopened at the beginning of 2013 in a new location at 44 East 32nd Street. It was co-ow ...
'' (2002) was nominated for several literary awards including the 2003
Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...
. It won the
Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...
Creasey Dagger for the best first crime novel. Welsh's second major work, the
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...
'' Tamburlaine Must Die'' (2004), fictionally recounts the last few days in the life of 16th-century English dramatist and poet
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...
, author of ''
Tamburlaine the Great ''Tamburlaine the Great'' is a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor Timur (Tamerlane/Timur the Lame, d. 1405). Written in 1587 or 1588, the play is a milestone in Elizabethan p ...
''. Her third novel, ''The Bullet Trick'' (2006), is set in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, London and Glasgow and narrated from the perspective of magician and conjurer William Wilson. Her fourth novel, ''Naming the Bones'', was published by Canongate Books in March 2010. Her fifth novel, '' The Girl on the Stairs'' is a psychological thriller set in Berlin and published in August 2012 by
Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...
. Her sixth novel, ''A Lovely Way to Burn'', came out with Hodder & Stoughton in 2014, and in 2015 a sequel, ''Death is a Welcome Guest'' was published. In 2009, she donated the short story "The Night Highway" to Oxfam's
Ox-Tales ''Ox-Tales'' refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: ''Earth'', ''Fire'', ''Air'' and ''Water' ...
project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the ''Air'' collection. From December 2010 to April 2012, she was the Writer in Residence for the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. In 2011, Welsh participated in the International Writing Program Fall Residency at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
,
Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...
. She contributed, with Zoë Strachan, a short story entitled "Anyone Who Had a Heart" to Glasgow Women's Library's 21 Revolutions Project. 21 Revolutions commissioned 21 writers and 21 artists to create works to celebrate the 21st Birthday of Glasgow Women's Library. She is Honorary President of the
Ullapool Ullapool (; ) is a village and port located in the civil parish of Lochbroom in the county of Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands. It is located around northwest of Inverness. According to the Scottish Government in 2016, the village had a ...
Book Festival.


Personal life

Welsh lives in Glasgow with the writer Zoë Strachan, her partner since 1998.


Bibliography


Novels

*''
The Cutting Room The Cutting Room is a music venue in New York City that was open at 19 West 24th Street from late 1999 through January 2009 for music of all varieties, and reopened at the beginning of 2013 in a new location at 44 East 32nd Street. It was co-ow ...
'' (2002) *'' Tamburlaine Must Die'' (2004) *''The Bullet Trick'' (2006) *''Naming the Bones'' (2010) *'' The Girl on the Stairs'' (2012) *'' The Second Cut'' (2022)


Plague Times Trilogy

*''A Lovely Way to Burn'' (2014) *''Death is a Welcome Guest'' (2015) *''No Dominion'' (2017)


Short stories

*"The Night Highway" (2009) *"Anyone Who Had a Heart" (2013)


References


External links


REVIEW : A Lovely Way to BurnREVIEW: No DominionREVIEW: No Dominion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Louise 1965 births Living people People educated at Craigmount High School Alumni of the University of Glasgow British dramatists and playwrights British women dramatists and playwrights International Writing Program alumni 21st-century British writers British people of Irish descent People associated with Glasgow Writers from London 21st-century British women writers Tartan Noir writers Alumni of the University of Strathclyde