Louise Welsh (born 1 February 1965 in London) is an English-born author of short stories and

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

s, resident in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Scotland. She has also written three plays, an opera, edited volumes of prose and poetry, and contributed to journals and anthologies. In 2004, she received the

Corine Literature Prize The Corine – International Book Prize, as it is officially called, is a German literature prize created by the Bavarian chapter of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, first awarded in 2001. It is awarded to German and international "au ...

Education

Welsh studied history at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and after graduating established and worked at a second-hand bookshop for several years before publishing her first novel.

Career

Welsh's debut novel ''

The Cutting Room The Cutting Room is a music venue in New York City that was open at 19 West 24th Street from late 1999 through January 2009 for music of all varieties and reopened at the beginning of 2013 in a new location at 44 East 32nd Street. It was co-owned ...

'' (2002) was nominated for several literary awards including the 2003

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

. It won the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

Creasey Dagger for the best first crime novel. Welsh's second major work, the

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

'' Tamburlaine Must Die'' (2004), fictionally recounts the last few days in the life of 16th-century English dramatist and poet

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon t ...

, author of '' Tamburlaine the Great''. Her third novel, ''The Bullet Trick'' (2006), is set in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, London and Glasgow and narrated from the perspective of magician and conjurer William Wilson. Her fourth novel, ''Naming the Bones'', was published by Canongate Books in March 2010. Her fifth novel, '' The Girl on the Stairs'' is a psychological thriller set in Berlin and published in August 2012 by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

. Her sixth novel, ''A Lovely Way to Burn'', came out with Hodder & Stoughton in 2014, and in 2015 a sequel, ''Death is a Welcome Guest'' was published. In 2009, she donated the short story "The Night Highway" to Oxfam's

Ox-Tales Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The Ox-Tales books w ...

project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the ''Air'' collection. From December 2010 to April 2012, she was the Writer in Residence for the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. In 2011, Welsh participated in the International Writing Program Fall Residency at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

. She contributed, with Zoë Strachan, a short story entitled "Anyone Who Had a Heart" to Glasgow Women's Library's 21 Revolutions Project. 21 Revolutions commissioned 21 writers and 21 artists to create works to celebrate the 21st Birthday of Glasgow Women's Library. She is Honorary President of the

Ullapool Ullapool (; gd, Ulapul ) is a village and port located in Northern Scotland. Ullapool has a population of around 1,500 inhabitants. It is located around northwest of Inverness in Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands. Despite its modest size, ...

Book Festival.

Personal life

Welsh lives in Glasgow with the writer

Zoë Strachan Zoë Strachan (born 1975) is a Scottish novelist and journalist. She also teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow. Biography Strachan grew up in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. She studied Archaeology and Philosophy at the University of ...

, her partner since 1998.

Bibliography

Novels

*''

'' (2002) *'' Tamburlaine Must Die'' (2004) *''The Bullet Trick'' (2006) *''Naming the Bones'' (2010) *'' The Girl on the Stairs'' (2012) *''

The Second Cut ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (2022)

Plague Times Trilogy

*''A Lovely Way to Burn'' (2014) *''Death is a Welcome Guest'' (2015) *''No Dominion'' (2017)

Short stories

*"The Night Highway" (2009) *"Anyone Who Had a Heart"

References

External links

REVIEW : A Lovely Way to BurnREVIEW: No DominionREVIEW: No Dominion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Louise 1965 births Living people People educated at Craigmount High School Alumni of the University of Glasgow British dramatists and playwrights British women dramatists and playwrights International Writing Program alumni 21st-century British writers British people of Irish descent People associated with Glasgow Writers from London 21st-century British women writers Tartan Noir writers