Sheila Llewellyn (born 1948) is a writer in Northern Ireland. Her first novel, ''Walking Wounded'' (2018), was based on events in Burma in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when a decision was made to kill some seriously injured soldiers who could not be evacuated, rather than leave them to possible torture by the approaching Japanese army. Her second novel, ''Winter in Tabriz'' (2021), set in Iran in 1979, won the inaugural

Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize is a British and Irish literary award for a novel focusing on travel, awarded annually by the Society of Authors. It was inaugurated in 2022, and is named for Malcolm Lowry's book ''Under the Volcano'' and endowed i ...

, for a novel focusing on travel, in 2022.

Philip Hensher Philip Michael Hensher FRSL (born 20 February 1965) is an English novelist, critic and journalist. Biography Son of Raymond J. and Miriam Hensher, his father a bank manager and composer and his mother a university librarian, Hensher was born in ...

chose it as one of his "Books of the Year" in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', describing it as "a revelation – long considered and slowly overwhelming with its sense of time and place".

Life

Sheila Llewellyn was born in 1948 in Manchester, England, of Welsh heritage. She has dual British/Irish citizenship, and lives and works in Northern Ireland. Llewellyn lived in Ghana with her father as a child, before moving back to Manchester for her education. She attend the Goyt Bank Technical High School for Girls (now Offerton School), in Stockport, before studying psychology, education and creative writing at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and

Queens University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. In 2016 she also earned a PhD in creative writing from the

Seamus Heaney Centre The Seamus Heaney Centre is located at Queen's University Belfast, and named after the late Seamus Heaney, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaney graduated from Queens in 1961 with a First Class Honours in English language and l ...

. Llewellyn's first novel, ''Walking Wounded'' (2018), was based on events in Burma in the

when a decision was made to kill some seriously injured soldiers who could not be evacuated, rather than leave them to possible torture by the approaching Japanese army. ''

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 ...

'' reviewer called it a "quietly self-assured first novel" and "a beautifully turned piece of work", which bore comparison to

Pat Barker Dame Patricia Mary W. Barker ( Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. She is known for her Regeneration Trilogy, p ...

's ''Regeneration'' trilogy. Her second novel, ''Winter in Tabriz'' (2021), set in Iran in 1979, won the inaugural

, for a novel focusing on travel, in 2022.

chose it as one of his "Books of the Year" in ''

'', describing it as "a revelation – long considered and slowly overwhelming with its sense of time and place".

Selected publications

* ''Walking Wounded'' (2108, Sceptre: ) * ''Winter in Tabriz'' (2021, Sceptre: )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewellyn, Sheila 1940s births Living people Novelists from Northern Ireland Women novelists from Northern Ireland 21st-century women writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century novelists from Northern Ireland