Draft:Michael Stewart

Michael Stewart is an award-winning English novelist, short story writer, poet, and playwright. Born and brought up in Salford, he now lives in Bradford. He is currently Head of Creative Writing at Huddersfield University, Editor-in-Chief of Grist Books and host of the Grist Literary Salon.

Career

Michael has been writing for many years. In October 2011, his debut novel, King Crow (2011) won the Not the Booker Award by The Guardian newspaper and was described as a 'literary sensation'. It follows teenager Paul Cooper's obsession with bird watching. To escape a troubled home life, Paul compares the people he knows with different species of bird, but he embarks upon a chaotic journey of self-discovery when he befriends a dangerous raven named Ashley.[1] King Crow was selected as a recommended read for World Book Night in April 2012.

Michael's first short story collection, Mr Jolly (2016), published by Valley Press, was published to rave reviews. Writing in The Short Story Review, Rupert Dastur praised the collection's 'cheeky intellectualism, raves and rants, quiet solitude, and humour'.

Michael has won several awards for his scriptwriting, including the BBC Alfred Bradley Bursary Award and the King’s Cross Award for New Writing. His short fiction has been published in Tears In The Fence, Brand Literary Magazine, Riptide, The Reader Magazine, and many other places.[2]

Michael is also the creator of The Brontë Stones project, four monumental stones situated in the landscape between the Brontë birthplace in Thornton and the Brontë Parsonage (now Brontë Parsonage Museum) in Haworth, inscribed with specially commissioned poems written by Kate Bush, Carol Ann Duffy, Jeannette Winterson and Jackie Kay.[3] The project was supported by the Bradford Literature Festival and funded by the Arts Council England.[4] The stones are accompanied by four walking trails in and across the landscape between Thornton and Haworth and are accompanied by specially commissioned maps, designed and drawn by cartographer, Chris Goddard, who has produced beautiful, bespoke, hand drawn maps of four trails devised by Michael.

The Brontë Stones is part of Michael's wider portfolio of literary and cultural projects connected to the Brontës. His novel, Ill Will (2018), published by HarperCollins, responds to Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, telling the story of Heathcliff's missing years. His hybrid-memoir, Walking the Invisible (2021), follows in the footsteps of the Brontës across Northern England and investigates the geographical and social features that shaped their work. It was praised in The Guardian as a 'terrific tribute to the Brontës – and to the landscapes that shaped their literature', demonstrating 'how landscape grows in the imagination and lays bare the “invisible” world of the heart and mind'.

In 2020, Michael was instrumental in obtaining and installing the blue heritage plaque now visible at the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, which was commissioned by the then owners in association with the Bradford Civic Society along with financial support from locally based supermarket chain Morrisons. The blue plaque was part of Michael's effort to bring the Brontë Birthplace 'to people's attention and connect it to Haworth'.

The Dogs, Michael's most recent poetry collection, was published by Smokestack Books in 2023. It touches upon the origin myths of dogs, how they have been viewed by different societies through the centuries and how man co-opted dogs into everyday life. It also looks at the effects of genetic changes on dogs through breeding and imagines a future world where dogs have learned to speak and are demanding better treatment from humans. The Dogs includes illustrations by artist Louis Benoit and became an exhibition at Artworks, The Everybody Gallery, Halifax, in 2023. It also included sculptures by Moira Benoit and a 3D Soundscape by musicians, Dr  Hyunkook Lee and Katia Sochaczewska.

Michael has contributed to media in various guises, including Britain’s Novel Landscapes for Channel 4, Our Great Yorkshire Life for Channel 5, BBC Breakfast and BBC Countryfile.

Writing

Novels

• Black Wood Women AKA The Last Wolf (London, HarperCollins, 2024)
• Ill Will: The Untold Story of Heathcliff (London, HarperCollins, 2018)
• Café Assassin (Halifax: Bluemoose Books, 2015)
• King Crow (Halifax, Bluemoose Books, 2011).

Non-fiction

• Walking the Invisible (London, HarperCollins, 2021)

Short Fiction Collections

• Four Letter Words (Hull: Wrecking Ball Press, 2022)
• Mr Jolly (Scarborough: Valley Press, 2016)

Poetry Collections

• The Dogs (Thirsk: Smokestack Books, 2023)
• Couples (Scarborough: Valley Press, 2020 – new expanded edition)
• Couples (Scarborough: Valley Press, 2013)

Radio Drama

• 2017 Connor’s Song, BBC Radio 4, Afternoon Drama
• 2013 Dead Man’s Suit, BBC Radio 4, Afternoon Drama
• 2012 Castaway, BBC Radio 4, Afternoon Drama
• 2007 Excluded, BBC Radio 4, Afternoon Drama

Theatre

• 2013  Singing The Blues, premièred at Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
• 2011  The Shadow of Your Hand, premièred at 24:7 Festival, Sachas, Manchester
• 2009  Mr Jolly premièred at The Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington as part of The Off Cut Festival
• 2008  Brood premièred, The Albany, London
• 2007-2008  Karry Owky (produced by) Vista Theatre Company, toured: Studio Salford (Salford), Love Apple (Bradford) and CragRats Mill (Holmfirth), Library Theatre (Manchester)
• 2007  Commissioned by Chol Theatre to write The Oceans of Europa for their Space Circus project.
• 2007  Meat Space  premiered  Fleshpot Theatre, Devonshire Arms, Kensington
• 2006  Dark and Dirty cabaret premièred, Theatre in the Mill, Bradford
• 2005  The Cleaners, premièred,  Theatre in the Mill, Bradford, as part of the BBC Northern Exposure Festival
• 2004  The Cabinet of Terrible Terrors premièred LBT, Huddersfield.
• 2002 The Art of War, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh
• 2002 Statements A and B and May Day performed as a double bill at Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town, London,
• 2002 Bambiha, performed Jackson’s Lane Theatre in London.
• 1999 May Day, premiered Bradford Playhouse (subsequent performances in HMP Leeds).
• 1999 Locked In, premièred Raven Theatre in Leeds (subsequent performances in HMP Leeds).

Edited collections

• The Intelligent Woman’s Guide, PDG Books ISBN 9781905519040
• The Grist Anthology of New Writing, Grist Books ISBN 9780956309907
• Outside the Asylum, Grist Books ISBN 9780956309914
• A Complicated Way of Being Ignored, Grist Books ISBN 9780956309921
• We’re All In It Together, Grist Books ISBN 9780956309969
• Apocalypse Now? Stories for the End of the World, Grist Books

Short fiction

• ‘As Many Grains of Sand’ (published in ebook format by Galley Beggar Press)
• ‘Story Without Meaning’ (published in ebook format by Galley Beggar Press)
• ‘The Blue and the Dim and the Dark Cloths’ (published in ebook format by Galley Beggar Press)
• ‘Mr Jolly’ (commissioned by The Reader Magazine, 50^th Celebration Issue) ISBN 9780956786296
• ‘The Man In The White Coat’ (Riptide Journal volume 8) ISBN 9780955832666
• ‘This Is Where You Get Off’ (commissioned by Iota magazine, issue 91)
• ‘Story Without Meaning’ (Biscuit Short Story Prize 2010), Biscuit Anthology ISBN 1903914441
• ‘Monkeys’, Brand literary Magazine issue 4 ISSN 1754 0593
• ‘The Phone Call’, The Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2009 ISSN 1758 9932
• ‘You Are Going Back’, Tears in the Fence issue 48 ISSN 0266 5816
• ‘Third Person’, The Light That Remains and other stories (Leaf Books) ISBN 9781905599349
• ‘The Bald Men’, Tears in the Fence issue 49 ISSN 0266 5816
• ‘A Better Devil’, Brand literary Magazine issue 1 ISSN 1754 0593
• ‘A Dog in a Bag’, Naked City (Route Books) ISBN 978-1901927238
• ‘He Was Going Out’, The Intelligent Woman’s Guide (PDG Books) ISBN 9781905519040

Screen Work

Michael has also written for screen. His credits include 'Just a Job' and 'A Black Sheep in the White Swan' for Voltage Films (2022), 'A Few Circles in the Waters' for ChalkManVideo (2012), 'The Reading Room' for Screen Yorkshire (2006), and Emmerdale for Yorkshire Television (2003-2004).

Awards

• 2019  H.E. Bates Short Story Award for ‘When a Woman Says No’ (winner)
• 2017  Longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for Mr Jolly
• 2011  The Guardian’s Not the Booker Award for novel King Crow (winner)
• 2009   Shortlisted for Brain Way Award for The Oceans of Europa (part of the Space    
•           Circus project)
• 2008   BBC Imison Award for radio play Excluded (shortlisted)
• 2004   The King’s Cross Award for New Writing for play Karry Owky (winner)
• 2003   The BBC Alfred Bradley Bursary Award for Leeches (winner)
• 2002   Winner of BBC ‘Short Range’ film competition for ‘The Reading Room’ (winner)

External link

Official website