Stephanie Jane Merritt (born 1974 in Surrey) is an English literary critic and writer who has contributed to publications including ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'', ''

New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by the Rationalist Association in the UK, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History The ''New Humanist'' has been in print for more than 13 ...

'' and ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter All ...

''. She was Deputy Literary Editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' from 1998 to 2005 and currently writes for ''

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', in addition to writing novels — under her own name as well as the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

S. J. Parris. Merritt read English at

Queens' College Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, and graduated from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in 1996. Merritt's first novel ''Gaveston'' (

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

) won a Betty Trask Award from the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and ass ...

in 2002. Her second novel was ''Real'' (2005), about a struggling young playwright, for which she was also commissioned to write the screenplay. In 2010, ''Heresy'' was published, her first novel in the series of historical fiction thrillers featuring Giordano Bruno. It was followed by ''Prophecy'' (2011) ''Sacrilege'' (2012), ''Treachery'' (2014), ''Conspiracy'' (2016) and ''Execution'' (2020). 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

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...

. Merritt has appeared regularly as a critic and panellist on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and BBC Radio 4 Extra, has been a judge for the Costa Biography Award and the Orange New Writing Award as well as the

Perrier Award Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of natural bottled mineral water obtained at its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier is known for its carbonation and its distinctive green bottle. Perrier was part of th ...

, and is a regular interviewer and author at literary festivals, as well as the National Theatre. During 2007 and 2008, she curated the Talks and Debates programme on issues in contemporary arts and politics at London's Soho Theatre.Curtis Brown: author profile: Stephanie Merritt
UK.

Bibliography

As Stephanie Merritt

* ''Gaveston'' (2002) * ''Real'' (2005) * ''The Devil Within'' (2008) * ''While You Sleep'' (2018)

As S.J. Parris

Series based on the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) * ''Heresy'' (2010) * ''Prophecy'' (2011) * ''Sacrilege'' (2012) * ''Treachery'' (2014) * ''Conspiracy'' (2016) * ''Execution'' (2020) * ''The Dead of Winter'' (2020) (collects three prequel novellas: ''The Secret Dead'' (2014), ''The Academy of Secrets'' (2020) and ''A Christmas Requiem'' (2020)) The prequel novellas that make up ''The Dead of Winter'' have been published separately as

e-books An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

as well.

References

External links

Official website
*
Stephanie Merritt Photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Stephanie 1974 births Living people People from Surrey Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 21st-century English novelists English critics The Guardian journalists