WRITERS

Merlin Holland

February 24, 2015

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 biographer and editor has put right many misconceptions about his...

Josie Goodbody

February 22, 2015

With a name worthy of a Bond Girl, Josie Goodbody has morphed from working in public relations in London to writing novels in Uruguay. A former publicist for Graff, Goodbody’s first novel, The Diamond...

Jeanette Winterson OBE

October 12, 2014

This Mancunian lesbian loves the word “lover”: She describes herself as not only a plain “lover” but also a “book lover, opera lover and nature lover” to her 37,000 followers on Twitter and is...

Anna Smith

September 19, 2014

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 scene after both 9/11 and the Dunblane massacres and...

Erika Leonard James (E. L. James)

June 23, 2014

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 Grey trilogy has had readers hooked but despite her wealth...

Mary Berry CBE

October 12, 2013

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 a fortune of some £15 million. Buckinghamshire based and married...

Philip K. Dick (1928 – 1982; AKA Richard Phillipps and Jack Dowland)

October 12, 2013

This Chicago born novelist, short story writer and essayist explored deep themes through his own personal experiences of drug abuse, paranoia, schizophrenia and transcendental experiences. Married five times, Dick published 44 novels and 121...

Seamus Heaney (1939 – 2013)

August 30, 2013

“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 his final years. The recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize...

Katherine “Kate” Mosse OBE

August 19, 2013

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 famous for her international bestseller novel Labyrinth, Mosse is a...

Anne Dunhill

June 16, 2013

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 debutante and model, Dunhill also writes about love, life and...

John Armstrong

June 3, 2013

This poet and artist was born in Consett, County Durham and began writing aged just 13 during his time studying at a monastery in Shropshire. Famed for his amazing head of a hair and...

Derek Blasberg

May 10, 2013

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 bestseller in 2010. Derek Blasberg followed it up with Very...

Alex Preston

March 4, 2013

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 first novel, was based on his own working experiences and...

Dominick Dunne (1925 – 2009)

December 7, 2012

This “Boswell of the bluebloods” was a writer whose tips came from unnamed sources and “waiter serving risotto at dinner parties”. Though Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. disparagingly described him a “gossip columnist” and he...

Pippa Middleton

October 27, 2012

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 of Edinburgh, Middleton’s view of her changed circumstances is simple:...

Richard Mason

October 26, 2012

This talented author was born in South Africa but educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. The Drowning People, his first novel, gained him a “vast” advance and was published during his first year...

Arthur Ransome (1864 – 1967)

August 22, 2012

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 Douglas over a biography of Oscar Wilde, played chess with...

Susan Hill CBE

June 17, 2012

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 small publishing house named Long Barn Books. Married to the...

Helena Matheopolous

June 9, 2012

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 written a biography of King Juan Carlos of Spain and...

Steven Berkoff

May 23, 2012

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 in reality he’s charm personified. Berkoff beat Julie Burchill in...

Aita Ighodaro

May 17, 2012

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 got five out of five from OK! Magazine. Aita Ighodaro’s...

Julian Fellowes (The Lord Fellowes of West Stafford DL, also known as Julian Kitchener-Fellowes)

April 28, 2012

English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter. His career pottered along until he won an Oscar for Gosford Park in 2002. Subsequent success came with Downton Abbey in 2011 but his personal obsession with...

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The Roll Call - WRITERS

1

Susie Steiner

2

Michael Russell (1933 – 2020)

3

Jackie Collins OBE (born Jacqueline Collins, 1937 – 2015)

4

Ann Barr (1929 – 2015)

5

Malcolm Gladwell

6