Kiran Millwood Hargrave was born in Surrey in 1990, and her earliest ambition was to be a cat, closely followed by a cat-owner or the first woman on Mars. She has achieved only one of these things, but discovered that being a writer lets you imagine whatever you want.She started writing poetry in her final year at university, producing three poetry books and a play before she turned to fiction. Her bestselling debut The Girl of Ink & Stars, about a mapmaker’s daughter who must save her island, won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2017 and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. Her second standalone story, The Island at the End of Everything, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and the Costa Children’s Book Award, and long listed for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her third book, The Way Past Winter, was the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year 2018.
Her debut YA title, The Deathless Girls, is forthcoming from Hachette in September. Her first book for adults, The Mercies, was subject to a 13-way auction and will be published by Picador in February 2020.Kiran lives in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and the fulfilment of one of her earliest ambitions: their cat, Luna.
Genres: Historical, Children's Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy
Novels
The Girl of Ink & Stars (2016)
aka The Cartographer's Daughter
The Island at the End of Everything (2017)
The Way Past Winter (2018)
The Deathless Girls (2019)
The Mercies (2020)
A Secret of Birds & Bone (2020)
aka The Cartographer's Daughter
The Island at the End of Everything (2017)
The Way Past Winter (2018)
The Deathless Girls (2019)
The Mercies (2020)
A Secret of Birds & Bone (2020)
Collections
Last March (poems) (2012)
Make More Noise! (2018) (with Emma Carroll, Catherine Johnson, Ally Kennen, Patrice Lawrence, M G Leonard, Sally Nicholls, Ella Risbridger, Jeanne Willis and Katherine Woodfine)
The Haunting Season (2021) (with Bridget Collins, Sara Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley and Laura Purcell)
Make More Noise! (2018) (with Emma Carroll, Catherine Johnson, Ally Kennen, Patrice Lawrence, M G Leonard, Sally Nicholls, Ella Risbridger, Jeanne Willis and Katherine Woodfine)
The Haunting Season (2021) (with Bridget Collins, Sara Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley and Laura Purcell)
Awards
|
Kiran Millwood Hargrave recommends
Who Let the Gods Out? (2017)
(Who Let the Gods Out?, book 1)
Maz Evans
"Blistering humour, mortal danger & immortal heart, epically clever. Loved it."
The Explorer (2017)
Katherine Rundell
"I love every one of Katherine Rundell's stories, but she gets more assured each time - this was everything I wanted it to be and more. Read it!"
The Fandom (2018)
(Fandom, book 1)
Anna Day
"Compulsive, intricate and genre-busting: I devoured THE FANDOM in one sitting. I am most definitely a fan."
The Perfect Nanny (2018)
Leïla Slimani
"A deeply disturbing, compulsive read that manages to make the monstrous pitiable, the inhuman humane."
The Illumination of Ursula Flight (2018)
Anna-Marie Crowhurst
"A glorious book, cleverly done and lushly written with a witty, vivid heroine."
Storm (2018)
(Huntress Trilogy, book 3)
Sarah Driver
"Sky is exhilarating, gripping and full of heart."
Everything Under (2018)
Daisy Johnson
"Everything Under seeped through to my bones. Reaching new depths hinted at in Fen, language and landscape turn strange, full of creeping horror and beauty. It is precise in its terror, and its tenderness. An ancient myth masterfully remade for our uncertain times."
The Storm Keeper's Island (2018)
(Storm Keeper Quartet, book 1)
Catherine Doyle
"Funny, dark and blazingly beautiful, The Storm Keeper's Island is a thrillingly inventive adventure."
The Corset (2018)
Laura Purcell
"A romping read with a deliciously dark conceit at its centre. Reminded me of Alias Grace. A worthy successor to The Silent Companions."
The Restless Girls (2018)
Jessie Burton
"A beautifully realised, whirling adventure full of the dark glitter of growing up, The Restless Girls is a fierce fairytale for the rebel girl - and boy - generation."
Last Ones Left Alive (2019)
Sarah Davis-Goff
"Last Ones Left Alive gripped me as much by the heart as it did by the throat. A stormer of a debut, Davis-Goff has created an urgent, assured, terrifying tale of destruction, humanity, and love."
Things in Jars (2019)
Jess Kidd
"A masterclass in storytelling. One of those books that truly does make you laugh out loud, that shakes and remakes what you think a story can be. It's rare to find a book so satisfying."
Black River (2020)
(Tuva Moodyson Mystery, book 3)
Will Dean
"Devouring Will Dean's Black River, possibly my favourite of his Tuva Moodyson mysteries. Certainly one of the best series of recent years the perfect blend of pace, plot & atmosphere."
The Foundling (2020)
Stacey Halls
"The Foundling dragged me along in its narrative wake. Another gripping, immersive, intelligent work of historical fiction from the bestselling author of The Familiars."
Exciting Times (2020)
Naoise Dolan
"A sharp, funny account of a contemporary relationship, told tenderly and with biting, bright insight."
The Weekend (2020)
Charlotte Wood
"The Weekend is an unflinchingly observed celebration of the profundity and mundanity of friendship, treated with elegance, wit, and tenderness."
Visitors to this page also looked at these authors