Susan Elderkin (born 1968Susan Elderkin , British Council Literature
/ref> in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, 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 populat ...

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 at least , with normally one author receiving a larger prize amount ( ...

and was shortlisted for the

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 ...

, her second, ''The Voices'' was shortlisted for the

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someo ...

and longlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

. She was one of

Granta Magazine ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'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. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

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 Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

and studied English at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

then an MA on the

UEA Creative Writing Course The University of East Anglia's Creative Writing Course was founded by Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Sir Angus Wilson in 1970. The M.A. has been regarded among the most prestigious in the United Kingdom. The course allows specialisation in the followi ...

taught by

Malcolm Bradbury Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic. Life Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 wit ...

and

Rose Tremain Dame Rose Tremain (born 2 August 1943) is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Life Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on 2 August 1943 in London to Viola Mabel Thomson and ...

. 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 also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

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

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

City University London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" and ...

, 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, and Patricia Cumper is ...

and

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 ...

. She has also worked as an ice-cream seller and taught English at a

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

n shoe factory. She lives between

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

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 ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. 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 The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

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 an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basq ...

Got Its Flowers)" (2011) - appears in ''Why Willows Weep: Contemporary Tales from the Woods'', published by IndieBooks in association with

The Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

Why 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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''
''The Reader's Digest'' by Susan Elderkin
from

FT.com The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elderkin, Susan 1968 births Living people English women novelists 21st-century English 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 Writers from Surrey