Kate Atkinson

Kate Atkinson was born the daughter of a shopkeeper in York, England. She studied English literature at Dundee University, graduating in 1974. She wrote several award-winning short stories in the 1980s and 1990s, then published her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, in 1995. The novel won the Whitbread Book of the Year award, beating out such accomplished writers as Salman Rushdie, and it was adapted for radio and theatre. Atkinson has written plays for Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. She is perhaps best known for creating the Jackson Brodie detective novels. The first four Jackson Brodie novels were adapted for television in the BBC’s Case Histories in 2011. Atkinson was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2011 for her literary contributions.