Melissa Harrison
Biography
Harrison was born in Effingham Junction, Surrey in 1975.[2] She attended a comprehensive school before studying English Literature at Oxford University, graduating in 1996.[1][2][3] After graduating, she worked as a freelance magazine subeditor, while contributing a regular "Nature Notes" column in The Times,[4] columns for The Guardian and contributions to radio and television.[5]
Her first novel, Clay, was published by Bloomsbury in January 2013, followed by At Hawthorn Time in 2015.[6] Her non-fiction books include Rain: Four Walks in English Weather (2016).[7] A third novel, All Among the Barley, was published in August 2018.[8] Her short story The Black Dog was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2017[9] and she has contributed episodes to the channel's Tweet of the Day programme.[10] She has also made appearances on the BBC Two series Springwatch.[11] During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, she began a nature diary podcast called The Stubborn Light of Things which formed the basis of a new memoir published in November 2020 that outlined her move from urban London to rural Suffolk.[12] Her first children's novel, By Ash, Oak and Thorn was published by Chicken House Books in May 2021.[13]
Awards
- 2010: John Muir Trust Wild Writing Award[3]
- 2019: European Union Prize for Literature for All Among the Barley[14]
References
- "Melissa Harrison". Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
- "Melissa Harrison". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- House, Christian (20 January 2013). "Melissa Harrison: A walk on the wild side". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
- Kappala-Ramsamy, Gemma (23 January 2013). "Debut author: Melissa Harrison". The Guardian.
- "Columns by Melissa Harrison". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- House, Christian (8 May 2015). "At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison". The Daily Telegraph.(subscription required)
- "Author: Melissa Harrison". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- "Melissa Harrison". The Nest Collective. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- "The Black Dog". BBC Radio 4. 10 March 2017.
- "Tweet of the Day - Melissa Harrison on the Tawny Owl". BBC Radio 4. 1 May 2019.
- "Springwatch". BBC Programmes. 15 June 2016.
- "The Stubborn Light of Things". Melissa Harrison website. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- Sanders, Patrick (March 2021). "By Ash, Oak and Thorn". The School Reading List. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- "Melissa Harrison". European Union Prize for Literature. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
External links
- Richard Powers and nature writing Open Book, Alex Clark interviews Richard Powers, Melissa Harrison and Jessica J Lee 12:00-27min, BBC Radio 4 podcast, 28 August 2018, accessed 2 September 2018.
- Melissa Harrison – Novelist and Nature Writer Melissa’s personal website with links to her books, podcast and other work.