Jill Dawson is the author of six novels and editor of six anthologies of poetry and short stories. In 1992 she won an Eric Gregory Award for poetry. Fred & Edie, her third novel, was shortlisted for both the Whitbread and Orange Prize, and was voted one of 50 essential novels by a living author. She also writes screenplays and is currently adapting Wild Boy, her fourth novel, for screen. She has held many fellowships, including the British Council Fellowship in Amherst, and the Creative Writing Fellowship at UEA, where she taught on the Writing MA. In 2006 she received an honorary doctorate in recognition of her writing and her work with new writers. Her latest novel The Great Lover, published by Sceptre, explores the life and loves of poet Rupert Brooke.
Born in Durham, she now lives with her family in the Fens.