Emma L. Darwin (born 8 April 1964) is an English

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

author, writer of the novels ''The Mathematics of Love'' (2006) and ''A Secret Alchemy'' (2008) and various short stories. She is the great-great-granddaughter of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and Emma Darwin.

Biography

Darwin was born and brought up in London. Her father was Henry Galton Darwin, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, son of Sir

Charles Galton Darwin Sir Charles Galton Darwin (19 December 1887 – 31 December 1962) was an English physicist who served as director of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) during the Second World War. He was a son of the mathematician George Howard Darwin ...

, grandson of Sir George Darwin, and great-grandson of Charles Darwin. Her mother Jane (née Christie), an English teacher, was the younger daughter of John Traill Christie. Darwin has two sisters; Carola and Sophia. Due to the parents' work, the family spent three years commuting between London and Brussels. The family spent many holidays on the Essex/

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

border, where much of her novel ''The Mathematics of Love'' is set. Darwin has lamented that any reviews of her work inevitably include references to her family background. She read Drama at the University of Birmingham, and she spent some years in academic publishing. But when she had two small children, she started writing again, and eventually earned an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in Writing at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales), where her tutor was novelist and poet Christopher Meredith. The novel she wrote for the degree became '' The Mathematics of Love'', which was sold to Headline Review, as the first of a two-book deal. Meanwhile, she had found the form of a research degree so fruitful that she completed a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths' College in 2010, where her supervisor was Maura Dooley. Darwin now lives with her children in South East London. ''The Mathematics of Love'' was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Best First Book Award for the Europe and South Asia region.Commonwealth Writers Award Shortlist
In 2006, her short story ''Maura's Arm'' as awarded 3rd place in the Bridport Prize. Previously her story, ''Closing Time'' had been longlisted for the 2005 Bridport Prize. She also was highly commended for ''Nunc Dimittis'' in the

Cadenza Magazine In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and oft ...

Competition March 2005. Her short story ''Russian Tea'' was 2004

Phillip Good Memorial Prize Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

Runner Up, and was included in the 2006 Fish Short Histories Prize anthology.

Publications

* ''The Mathematics of Love'' London: Headline Review (3 Jul 2006) - paperback published in the UK 8 March 2007 . Published in the US * ''A Secret Alchemy'' London: Headline Review 13 Nov 2008 * ''Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction'' (2016) Teach Yourself * ''This is not a Book about Charles Darwin: A Writer's Journey through my Family'' (2019) Holland House Books

References

External links

Author's Website

Author's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin, Emma 21st-century English novelists British women short story writers English short story writers English women novelists Living people People educated at St Paul's Girls' School 1964 births Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Glamorgan 21st-century British short story writers 21st-century English women writers