Susan Elderkin (born 1968Susan Elderkin , British Council Literature
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Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

New Writing Partnership : New Writing Season
/ref>) is an English author of two critically acclaimed novels, her first, '' Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains'' won a

Betty Trask Prize The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, her second, ''The Voices'' was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and longlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. She was one of Granta Magazine's 20 Best Young British Novelists in 2003 and won the 2007

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

Travel Award.http://www.afghanearthworks.com/ranpura/W9_Writers/About_Susan.html About Susan She is the author, with Ella Berthoud, of ''The Novel Cure: An A-Z of Literary Remedies'' and ''The Story Cure: Books to Keep Kids Happy, Healthy and Wise''.

Life

Elderkin grew up in Leatherhead, Surrey and studied English at Downing College, Cambridge then an MA on the UEA Creative Writing Course taught by Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. She went on to become a travel writer, journalist and reviewer, mainly for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

''Aitken Alexander Associates
/ref> and to teach creative writing herself at Goldsmiths College,

Birkbeck, University of London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

, City University London, the Arvon Foundation and Manchester University. She has also worked as an ice-cream seller and taught English at a

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

n shoe factory. She lives between

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and America with her partner and young son and is working on adapting her first novel for film. She is a bibliotherapist at The School of Life. Together with fellow bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud, she is the author of two books about bibliotherapy, ''The Novel Cure'' and ''The Story Cure'' (both published by Canongate).

Bibliography

Novels

*'' Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains'' (2000) *''The Voices'' (2003) - The story, set in the western Australian outback, is about a boy who is found ten years after disappearing into the Outback following ghostly voices.

Non-fiction

*''The Novel Cure: An A-Z of Literary Remedies'' (2013) - "An exuberant pageant of literary fiction and a celebration of the possibilities of the novel." *'' The Story Cure: Books to Keep Kids Happy, Healthy and Wise'' (2016) - "A treasure trove of practical, stimulating knowledge for anyone faced with the daunting and joyous task of matching the right book to the right child. A magical resource".

Short stories

*"This One (or How The

Blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania ...

Got Its Flowers)" (2011) - appears in ''Why Willows Weep: Contemporary Tales from the Woods'', published by IndieBooks in association with The Woodland TrustWhy Willows Weep by the Woodland Trust - Fantastic Short Stories by famous authors
/ref>

References

External links

*

from ''

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 f ...

''
''The Reader's Digest'' by Susan Elderkin
from FT.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Elderkin, Susan 1968 births Living people English women novelists 21st-century British novelists People from Crawley People from Leatherhead Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of East Anglia Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of the University of Manchester Financial Times people Bibliotherapy 21st-century English women writers The School of Life people