Stella Duffy

Stella Duffy is the author of The Purple Shroud, Theodora – Actress, Empress, Whore, The Room of Lost Things, Parallel Lies, State of Happiness, Singling out The Couples published by Virago , Immaculate Conceit and Eating Cake (Sceptre), and the Saz Martin series published by Serpent’s Tail – Calendar Girl, Wavewalker, Beneath the Blonde, Fresh Flesh and Mouths of Babes. Theodora won Stonewall Writer of the Year in 2010. The Room of Lost Things was longlisted for the 2008 Orange Prize and won Stonewall Writer of the Year. I’ve written ten plays and about forty-five short stories, I won the 2002 CWA Short Story Dagger for Martha Grace from the Tart Noir anthology I co-edited with Lauren Henderson. As a performer I’m an Associate Artist with Improbable, Associate Director with Shaky Isles, a long-term member of the impro company Spontaneous Combustion, and have guested with the Comedy Store Players. My solo show Breaststrokes was Time Out and Guardian Critic’s Choice. I also direct theatre, primarily for Shaky Isles, and sometimes teach writing and theatre workshops, with particular interest in improvisation as a writing tool and for story work. I’m the founder of The Chaosbaby Project, a large scale physical/musical/theatre project, coming together (we hope!) in 2013. I have been practicing the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin with the SGI since 1986. I’m married to the writer Shelley Silas.