Matt Wesolowski (British author)
Matt Wesolowski | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 August 1981 Newscastle-Upon-Tyne, UK |
| Occupation | Author |
| Period | 2016-present |
| Genre | |
| Children | 1 |
Matt Wesolowski (born 1981, in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a British author, and he also teaches creative writing. [1] He writes horror novels, but his work also explores supernatural, crime and fantasy genres. Wesolowski is best known for his horror fiction series Six Stories, first published in 2016.
Early life and career
[edit]Matt Wesolowski was born on 24 August 1981 in Newcastle upon Tyne. His grandfather was from Poland and escaped to north-east England as a prisoner of war during the Second World War. [2] Wesolowski grew up in the Newcastle suburb of Gosforth and he describes himself as a goth. [2] He struggled at school but he enjoyed reading as an escape from his anxiety around socialising.
When he left school, Wesolowski became an apprentice chef, before then going to university to study linguistics. Before writing full-time, he worked as an English tutor for young people in the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) and care systems. He is a creative writing tutor for Faber Academy run by Faber and Faber publishing.[3]
Work
[edit]Matt Wesolowski's first published work were short stories featured in a number of different anthology books. In 2011, he published the short story "North" in the book Midnight Movie Creature Feature by May December Publications. In 2015, his short stories were published in a number of books; "Life is Precious" was published by Parallel Universe Publications in the book Kitchen Sink Gothic, "Trollkyrka" was published in Dimension6: annual collection, "Ellie Hill" was published in Onyx Neon Shorts Presents: Horror Collection - 2015, "Rockets" in Play Things & Past Times by KnightWatch Press, and a story in Northern Crime One: New Crime Stories from Northern Writers was published by Moth Publishing.
His debut novella was The Black Land published by Blood Bound Books in 2013.
Six Stories series
[edit]Six Stories was published by Orenda Books in 2016,[4] about elusive journalist Scott King who creates a podcast about the unsolved murder of a teenager in Northern England. Reviews for Six Stories were mostly positive. Doug Johnstone wrote for The Big Issue that "Wesolowski evokes the ominous landscape and eerie atmosphere with sharp, direct prose."[5] Six Stories was followed by Hydra (2017),[6] Changeling (2018),[7][8] Beast (2018), Deity (2020), and Demon (2021).[9] Each book in the series is written as a new series in the fictional true-crime investigation podcast "Six Stories" by Scott King. In a review by Sublime Horror, Deity is described as the "most gripping and thought-provoking yet." [10]
Accolades
[edit]Matt Wesolowski won the Pitch Perfect competition at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2015. [11] For his novel Changeling he was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year in 2019 [12] and the 2019 Amazon Publishing Readers' Award for Best Thriller and Best Independent Voice. His novel Beast won the Amazon Publishing Award for Best Independent Voice in 2020.
Personal life
[edit]Matt Wesolowski lives in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne with his wife and son.
Bibliography
[edit]| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Black Land | Blood Bound Books | |
| 2016 | Six Stories | Orenda Books | Six Stories Book 1 |
| 2017 | Hydra | Orenda Books | Six Stories Book 2 |
| 2018 | Changeling | Orenda Books | Six Stories Book 3 |
| 2019 | Beast | Orenda Books | Six Stories Book 4 |
| 2020 | Deity | Orenda Books | Six Stories Book 5 |
| 2021 | Demon | Orenda Books | Six Stories Book 6 |
| 2025 | (Don't) Call Mum | Wild Hunt Books | Part of the Northern Weird Project |
References
[edit]- ^ "Matt Wesolowski – Orenda Books". Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- ^ a b "Horror-crime writer Matt Wesolowski calls for evil understanding". BBC News. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
- ^ "Matt Wesolowski | Creative Writing Tutor". Faber Academy. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
- ^ "Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski". Publishers Weekly. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Johnstone, Doug (17 April 2017). "Review: Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski / One of the Boys by Daniel Magariel". Big Issue. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "Hydra by Matt Wesolowski". Publishers Weekly. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Changeling by Matt Wesolowski". Publishers Weekly. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Dubiel, Cari (August 2019). "Changeling". Booklist. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Demon by Matt Wesolowski". Publishers Weekly. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Matt Wesolowski's Six Stories series gets a superb new addition in Deity". Sublime Horror. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ bloodyscotland (22 July 2022). "BLOODY SCOTLAND PITCH PERFECT SESSION SEEKS ASPIRING CRIME WRITERS". Bloody Scotland. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "Longlist for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Announced! - Harrogate International Festivals". 14 April 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
Further reading
[edit]- Stewart, Victoria (September 2022). "True Crime and Contemporary Crime Fiction". Crime Fiction Studies. 3 (2): 159–174. doi:10.3366/cfs.2022.0072. ISSN 2517-7982.
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