Emma Darwin

Emma Darwin is a novelist and short story writer. She was born in London and brought up there, with interludes in Manhattan and Brussels. After an education which involved a lot of history, a lot of reading and a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts, she worked academic publishing for a while.

Despite being diverted into a photographic darkroom for a few years she wrote her way towards becoming a full-time writer, acquiring an MPhil in Writing along the way, enough novels in manuscript to prop up several table legs, and a couple of prizes for her short stories. She's never quite given up scratching the academic itch either, and is working for a PhD in Creative Writing at the moment. Her first novel The Mathematics of Love was published in 2006, and has also been shortlisted for various prizes, and her next, A Secret Alchemy, will be published in November 2008, and summer 2009 in the US.

Emma's rather forgotten what she does when she's not writing: living in London, there are more theatres and art galleries than is easy to keep up with, and even walking through the streets is a perennial pleasure. Given more time, holidays involve a camera and some ancient stone buildings or grand scenery: a horse to ride is an optional but delightful extra.