Mary Paulson-Ellis

Mary Paulson-Ellis (born 1968) is a Scottish writer and novelist. She writes across the genres of literary, crime and historical fiction. Her work has appeared in the Guardian^[1] and been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.^[2] Her books have received a number of awards. Paulson-Ellis’ first novel, The Other Mrs Walker (2016) became a Times bestseller and was named Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year in 2017.

Life

Paulson-Ellis was born in Glasgow, Scotland and grew up in Glasgow and Norwich, England. She studied politics and sociology at Edinburgh University.^[3] She has an MLitt in Creative Writing from Glasgow University.^[4]

Prior to becoming a full time writer, Paulson-Ellis worked as a script-editor,^[5] producer, fundraiser, arts administrator and tour guide.^[3]

Paulson-Ellis lives in Edinburgh, where her novels are set.

Work

Paulson-Ellis’ first novel, The Other Mrs Walker^[6][7][8] was published by Mantle in 2016.^[9] It became a Times bestseller^[10] and in 2017 was named Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year.^[11] She followed this with The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing^[12] which was longlisted for the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Novel^[13] and a Historical Writers Association Gold Crown.^[14] Emily Noble’s Disgrace, her third novel, was published in 2021.^[15]

All three books inhabit what Paulson-Ellis calls ‘the territory of the dead’ and explore the world of people who die with no apparent next of kin.

Paulson-Ellis’ short fiction has appeared in New Writing Scotland, Gutter, the Dangerous Women project and been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.^[16][2] She wrote about the world of those who die with no next of kin for the Guardian,^[17][18] chose her favourite Scottish writing for Books from Scotland,^[19] and selected her Top Ten Books for Remembrance Sunday for Waterstones.^[20] In 2021 she wrote the introduction to a new edition of Greyfriar’s Bobby for Macmillan Collector’s Library.^[21]

In 2019 Val McDermid selected Paulson-Ellis as one of the ten most compelling LGBTQI+ authors working today.^[22] The following year, Paulson-Ellis travelled to Hamburg at the invitation of Louise Welsh to represent Scottish writing as part of the British Council Literature Seminar in Germany.^[23] She regularly appears on BBC Radio Scotland reviewing what's current in TV, film, theatre, art and books.^[24][25]

Paulson-Ellis is a member of the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature scheme^[26] and the Society of Authors.^[27]

Awards

• 2016 Amazon Rising Star
• 2017 Rising Star, DIVA Literary Awards (highly commended)
• 2017 Breakthrough Author, Books Are My Bag Readers Awards (shortlisted)
• 2017 Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year
• 2020 Historical Writers Association Gold Crown (longlisted)
• 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Novel (longlisted)

Bibliography

Novels

• The Other Mrs Walker (2016)
• The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing (2019)
• Emily Noble’s Disgrace (2021)

Short fiction

• "The Cleaner", BBC Radio 4 (2020)
• "Not My Type" in The Art of Being Dangerous, Leuven Press (2021)
• "The Man from ’53" in Lost Looking Found, Merchiston Press (2021)
• "The Things We Leave Behind", BBC Radio 4 (2021)

Non-fiction

• "The Curious Case of Mr Lobban", Guardian (2016)
• Introduction to Greyfriars Bobby, Macmillan Collector’s Library (2021)