Melissa Harrison

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

Early

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

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

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
2025 Homecoming: A Guided Journal to Lead You Back to Nature Wainwright Prize Illustrative Books Shortlisted

Bibliography

Novels

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

Children's

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

Nature writing

  • Rain: Four Walks in English Weather (2016)
  • The Stubborn Light of Things: A Nature Diary (2020)
  • Homecoming: A Guided Journal to Lead You Back to Nature (2025)

References

  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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