Stephanie Merritt (born 1974,
Surrey) is a
critic and feature writer who has contributed to various publications including
The Times, the
Daily Telegraph, the
New Statesman,
New Humanist and
Die Welt. She was Deputy Literary Editor of
The Observer from 1998–2006 and currently writes for
The Observer and
The Guardian.
She graduated in English from
Queens' College,
Cambridge in 1996.
Merritt is the author of three novels,
Gaveston (
Faber & Faber) which won a
Betty Trask Award from the
Society of Authors in 2002 ,
Real (2005), for which she was commissioned to write the
screenplay, and
Heresy (2010), a historical thriller featuring Giordano Bruno, under the pseudonym S. J. Parris. A fourth novel,
Prophecy is to be published soon in the same series. She has also written a memoir,
The Devil Within, published by Vermilion in 2008 and shortlisted for the Mind Book Award, which discusses her experiences living with
depression.
Merritt has appeared regularly as a critic and panellist on
BBC Radio 4 and
BBC7, has been a judge for the Costa Biography Award and the Orange New Writing Award as well as the
Perrier Award, and is a regular interviewer and author at various literary festivals, as well as the
National Theatre. From 2007-2008 she curated the Talks and Debates programme on issues in contemporary arts and politics at London's Soho Theatre.
Bibliography
Read More