WRITERS

The only grandchild of Oscar Wilde, Merlin Holland has spent his life researching the writer and playwright and poet’s life. This Burgundy, France based...

With a name worthy of a Bond Girl, Josie Goodbody has morphed from working in public relations in London to writing novels in Uruguay....

This Mancunian lesbian loves the word “lover”: She describes herself as not only a plain “lover” but also a “book lover, opera lover and...

Former Daily Record chief reporter Anna Smith has covered conflicts from Somalia and Rwanda to Kosovo. She was one of the first journalists on...

The highest earning author of 2013, Erika Leonard James raked in £33.3 million that year and £10.6 million in 2012. Her Fifty Shades of...

This cookery writer morphed into Britain’s favourite baker as the judge of BBC Two’s The Great British Bake Off and in the process amassed...

This Chicago born novelist, short story writer and essayist explored deep themes through his own personal experiences of drug abuse, paranoia, schizophrenia and transcendental...

“The most important Irish poet since Yeats”, Heaney’s books accounted for two thirds of the sales of all living poets in the UK during...

This author and co-founder of the Orange Prize for Literature must often find people confusing her with the model of the same name. Most...

This Roman Catholic novelist and Italian translator’s works have included A Darker Shade of Love, Web of Passion and Anita: A Memoir. A former...

This poet and artist was born in Consett, County Durham and began writing aged just 13 during his time studying at a monastery in...

This witty New York based fashion journalist and author’s first book, Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady, was a New York Times...

This talented Oxford educated author is a former credit derivatives trader who is now regular on BBC2’s The Review Show. This Bleeding City, his...

This “Boswell of the bluebloods” was a writer whose tips came from unnamed sources and “waiter serving  risotto at dinner parties”. Though Robert F....

The sister of The Duchess of Cambridge was paid a £400,000 advance by Penguin for her first book, Celebrate. A graduate of the University...

This talented author was born in South Africa but educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. The Drowning People, his first novel, gained him...

Though best known for Swallows and Amazons, Ransome’s life in Russia was what makes him most fascinating. He was sued unsuccessfully by Lord Alfred...

Best known for her chilling novel The Woman in White, this writer also did a stint on the BBC’s The Archers and runs a...

Fluent in six languages, this Athenian was fashion editor of The Tatler and a columnist for The Times. Resident in London’s Knightsbridge, Matheopoulos has...

Steven Berkoff is a titan of the stage and a might with a pen. He’s best known for playing the darkest of characters but...

This statuesque Oxford graduate’s first novel, Sin Tropez, was a mighty success. The Independent described it as a “thrilling and scandalous read” and it...

English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter. His career pottered along until he won an Oscar for Gosford Park in 2002. Subsequent success came...