Dorothy Koomson (born 1971 in London) is a contemporary British novelist, who is of Ghanaian descent.[2] She has been described as "Britain's biggest selling black author of adult fiction".[3]
Dorothy Koomson | |
|---|---|
 2014 | |
| Born | 1971 (age 52–53)[1] London, England |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 2003–present |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Website | |
| www | |
Biography edit
Koomson has two degrees in Psychology and Journalism from when she graduated from Leeds University (Trinity and All Saints College).[4] She has written for a number of women's magazines and newspapers, as well as having had over a dozen successful novels published in the UK and US.[1][5] Koomson spent two years living in Sydney and is currently living in Brighton.[6]
Koomson wrote her first novel, the unpublished "There's A Thin Line Between Love And Hate", when she was 13. In 2003 her debut novel, The Cupid Effect, was published.[7] Her second novel, The Chocolate Run, was published in 2004.[8] In 2006, she published her third novel, My Best Friend's Girl.[9] The book was chosen for the Richard and Judy's Summer Reads shortlist and it received a huge sales boost.[10] Koomson's fourth and fifth novels, Marshmallows For Breakfast and Goodnight, Beautiful, were published in 2007 and 2008 respectively.[11] Koomson's sixth novel, The Ice Cream Girls, was published in 2010.[12] Koomson's seventh novel, The Woman He Loved Before, was released on 3 February 2011.[13] Her eighth book, The Rose Petal Beach, came out in August 2012 and was released in paperback form in April 2013. Her ninth book, The Flavours of Love, was published in November 2013, after which she took a longer break before writing her tenth book, That Girl From Nowhere, which was published in April 2015. Her novels have been translated into over 30 languages.[14]
During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests calling for racial justice, Koomson criticised the UK publishing industry as being a “hostile environment for black authors”, stating that those in the industry have gaslighted Black authors and demeaned, demoralised, and discarded them in reality, while portraying an image of support to the public.[15] Her experiences in the publishing industry were also discussed[16] in an article responding to the "Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing" report.[17]
Later that year, Koomson was recognised as one of the United Kingdom's 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage when she was included in the 2021 edition of the annual Powerlist.[18]
In 2020 Koomson launched a podcast intended to help 'demystify the book world'.[19]
In popular culture edit
- The television adaptation of her novel The Ice Cream Girls by Left Bank Pictures was shown on ITV in the UK in 2013 and had nearly 5 million viewers.[20]
- Koomson's work was referenced in Bernardine Evaristo's Booker Prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other.[21]
Bibliography edit
- The Cupid Effect, 2003
- The Chocolate Run, 2004
- My Best Friend's Girl, 2006
- Marshmallows For Breakfast, 2007
- Goodnight, Beautiful, 2008
- The Ice Cream Girls, 2010
- The Woman He Loved Before, 2011
- The Rose Petal Beach, 2012
- The Flavours of Love, 2013
- That Girl From Nowhere, 2015
- When I Was Invisible, 2015
- The Friend, 2017
- The Beach Wedding (Quick Reads), 2018
- The Brighton Mermaid, 2018
- Tell Me Your Secret, 2019
- All My Lies Are True (Ice Cream Girls 2), 2020
References edit
- ^ a b "Dorothy Koomson Bio". Waterstones. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "GH at 60 | Our Writers & Their Books", African Book Addict, 31 March 2017.
- ^ Kean, Danuta, "Dorothy Koomson interview: On 'The Ice Cream Girls' and being one of Britain's biggest black authors", The Independent, 10 November 2013.
- ^ "Alumni Stories". Leeds Trinity. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ "Dorothy Koomson at Little Brown Book Group". Little Brown Book Group. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "All About Me". Dorothy Koomson Official Website. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "The Cupid Effect". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "The Chocolate Run". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "My Best Friends Girl". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ Sharp, Rob (6 August 2006). "How Richard and Judy rewrote the bestseller lists". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ "Marshmallows For Breakfast". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "The Ice Cream Girls". Waterstones. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "The Woman He Loved Before". Waterstones. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
- ^ Dove, Ella (7 November 2020). "7 of the best Dorothy Koomson books". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Flood, Alison (10 June 2020). "Black British authors top UK book charts in wake of BLM protests". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ Shutti, Grace (3 July 2020). "'I stuck my foot in the door': what it is like to be black in UK publishing". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Saha, Anamik; van Lente, Sandra. "Rethinking 'Diversity' in Publishing". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Lavender, Jane (17 November 2020). "Lewis Hamilton ends incredible year top of influential Black Powerlist 2021". mirror. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ Chandler, Mark (6 November 2020). "Koomson to demystify book world with podcast series and platform". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Kean, Danuta (10 November 2013). "Dorothy Koomson interview: On 'The Ice Cream Girls' and being one of Britain's biggest black authors". The Independent. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Megan, Sutton (13 July 2020). "The books that shaped me: Dorothy Koomson". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 16 May 2021.