Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke, daughter of a Methodist minister, was born in Nottingham in 1959. She studied philosophy and political economy at Oxford (St Hilda's College) and then worked as an editor at publishing houses (Quarto, Gordon Fraser, Simon & Schuster). She also spent two years teaching English abroad (Turin, Bilbao) while beginning to publish her first short stories. Her debut novel, "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell," which she started writing in 1993 and was published in 2004, received the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, Locus Award for Best First Novel, Time's Best Novel of the Year, and British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, garnering worldwide attention. This was followed by the short story collection "The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories" (2006), a supposed compilation of stories by female authors who lived during the Middle Ages.