Melissa Lee-Houghton (born in 1982 in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the ...

) is an English poet, fiction writer, and essayist. Her 2016 poetry collection, ''Sunshine,'' won the

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

and was shortlisted for the

Ted Hughes Award The Ted Hughes Award is an annual prize given to a living UK poet for new work in poetry. It is awarded each spring in recognition of a work from the previous year. Background The award was established in 2009 with the permission of Carol Hughes i ...

and

Costa Book Award for Poetry The Costa Book Award for Poetry, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971-2006), was an annual literary award for poetry collections, part of the Costa Book Awards. The award concluded in 2022. Recipients Costa Books of the Year are distingui ...

Biography

Lee-Houghton was born in 1982 in

, England. Lee-Houghton began writing poetry in elementary school. As a child, she was "the victim of horrific sexual abuse" and was later diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. In 1996, at age 14, she had a prolonged hospital stay in a psychiatric ward, during which she began writing letters and poetry. Lee-Houghton has stated, "Writing helped me feel as though I was releasing some of the anguish that I’d been forced to keep to myself." Two years later, Lee-Houghton became pregnant and homeless. In 2002, she was hospitalized for a mixed affective episode and given

benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, ...

, to which she became addicted. During this time, she was unable to keep writing, though she began again during a 2008 hospitalization. The following year, she finished her first book, ''A Body Made of You,'' which was published in 2011. Discussing the power of writing poetry for her, Lee-Houghton stated, "Writing poetry, for me, has an intoxicating effect akin to taking a drug - in many ways, it is a short-term, substitutive distraction. But it provides satisfaction, both through the act of creating and the subsequent rewards of earning money and the enthusiastic responses of others." Her poetry, essays, and short stories have been published in ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'', ''

The White Review ''The White Review'' is a London-based magazine on literature and the visual arts. It is published in print and online. History ''The White Review'' was founded by editors Benjamin Eastham and Jacques Testard, and released its first issue in p ...

'', and others. Aside from writing, Lee-Houghton regularly reviews submissions for ''The Short Review''.

Awards and honors

''Beautiful Girls'' was a

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) was founded in 1953 by T. S. Eliot and friends, including Sir Basil Blackwell, "to propagate the art of poetry". Eric Walter White was secretary from December 1953 until 1971, and was subsequently the society's chair ...

Recommendation for Winter 2013. In 2014, Lee-Houghton was selected as a Next Generation Poet, a list created every 20 years by the Poetry Book Society of poets "expected to dominate the poetry landscape of the coming decade." Lee-Houghton was ranked 69th in PBS's "A to Z guide of 100 Women Poets to Read Now." In 2016, she won the Northern Writers’ Awards for Fiction.

Publications

Single-author collections

* ''Bite Your Tongue When You Give Me My Name'' (2009) * ''Patterns of Mourning: Poetry'' (2009) * ''A Body Made of You'' (2011) * ''Beautiful Girls'' (2013) * ''Sunshine'' (2016) * ''Cumshot in D Minor'' (2017) * ''The Faithful Look Away'' (2018) * ''That Lonesome Valley'' (2019)

Multi-author collections

* ''Cold Fire. Poetry inspired by David Bowie'' (2000) * ''Coin Opera 2'', edited by Kirsten Irving and

Jon Stone Jon Arthur Stone (April 13, 1931 – March 30, 1997) was an American writer, director and producer, who was best known for being an original crew member on The Muppets' ''Sesame Street'' and is credited with helping develop characters such a ...

(2013)

References

External links

{{Authority control 1982 births People from Wythenshawe People with bipolar disorder 21st-century British poets Living people