Melissa Harrison (born 1975) is an English novelist, short story and nature writer.[1][2]

Early

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Harrison was born in Effingham Junction, Surrey in 1975.[2] She attended a comprehensive school before studying English Literature at the University of Oxford, 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]

Literary career

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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

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Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2015 At Hawthorn Time Costa Book Awards Novel Shortlisted
2016 Bailey Women's Prize for Fiction Longlisted
Rain Wainwright Prize Longlisted
2019 All Among the Barley European Union Prize for Literature Won [14]
2021 By Ash, Oak and Thorn Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards Children's Shortlisted [15]
The Stubborn Light of Things East Anglian Book Awards Book of the Year Won
Independent Booksellers' Book Prize Shortlisted
2022 By Rowan and Yew Wainwright Prize Shortlisted

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Clay (2013)
  • At Hawthorn Time (2015
  • All Among the Barley (2018)

Children's

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  • By Ash, Oak and Thorn (2021)
  • By Rowan and Yew (2022)

Nature writing

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  • Rain: Four Walks in English Weather (2016)
  • The Stubborn Light of Things: A Nature Diary (2020)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Melissa Harrison". Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Melissa Harrison". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. ^ House, Christian (20 January 2013). "Melissa Harrison: A walk on the wild side". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  4. ^ Kappala-Ramsamy, Gemma (23 January 2013). "Debut author: Melissa Harrison". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Columns by Melissa Harrison". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. ^ House, Christian (8 May 2015). "At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison". The Daily Telegraph.(subscription required)
  7. ^ "Author: Melissa Harrison". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Melissa Harrison". The Nest Collective. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  9. ^ "The Black Dog". BBC Radio 4. 10 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Tweet of the Day - Melissa Harrison on the Tawny Owl". BBC Radio 4. 1 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Springwatch". BBC Programmes. 15 June 2016.
  12. ^ "The Stubborn Light of Things". Melissa Harrison website. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. ^ Sanders, Patrick (March 2021). "By Ash, Oak and Thorn". The School Reading List. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Melissa Harrison". European Union Prize for Literature. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2021 shortlist announced". Booksellers Association. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
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