Susanna Clarke Bio

Born on 1 November 1959 in Nottingham, England as the eldest daughter of a Methodist minister and his wife. Because of her father’s role, she spent her childhood in various locations across Northern England and Scotland.

Susanna Clarke enjoyed books from a young age, including the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austin.

Upon leaving school, she studied philosophy, politics and economics at St Hilda’s College, Oxford and graduated in 1981. In the following years, she worked in publishing at Quarto and Gorden Fraser, gaining experience in various areas of publishing, and spent two years teaching English as a foreign language in Italy and Spain.

Returning to England in 1992, she lived in a house overlooking the North Sea in County Durham, where she began working on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. She first developed the idea for her novel while living in Bilbao, which inspired her. In conjunction with writing, she spent a decade editing cookbooks for publishers Simon & Schuster. She used her spare time to write her novel.

Susanna Clarke met her now husband, science fiction writer Colin Greenland, who is also known as reviewer Colin Greenland, at a writer’s workshop he was teaching with Geoff Ryman. While he soon discovered there wasn’t much he could help her with in the way of writing, they have supported each other throughout their individual journeys. Susanna lives in the Peak District with her husband. She struggled with illness during the writing process, and publishers initially rejected her manuscript. Her interests include exploring the relationships between people, land, and magic.

Susanna Clarke books in order

Susanna Clarke has released five books (including the upcoming yet to be released) as well as had short stories published in several anthologies.

• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)

• Piranesi (2020)

• The Ladies of Grace Adieu (2006)

• The Wood at Midwinter (2024)

• The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City (2026)

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell 

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is a slow-burning, character-driven fantasy about two rival magicians who are trying to revive English magic, and instead, unleashing forces beyond their control.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is an alternate history novel set in 19th-century England during the Napoleonic Wars, exploring the return of magic through two men: Gilbert Norrell and Jonathan Strange. The novel was published on 8 September 2004 in the United States and on 30 September in the United Kingdom, with Bloomsbury printing 250,000 hardcover copies simultaneously. It has been described as a fantasy novel, an alternative history, and an historical novel, drawing on various Romantic literary traditions and featuring a style reminiscent of 19th-century British writers.

The book is noted for its extensive use of footnotes that create a fictional, academic backstory for English magic. At its core, the novel explores the evolving relationship between Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange, illustrating the anxiety of influence. The story features significant shifts from social comedy into darker, Byronic tales as the magic becomes more volatile. Clarke’s narrative voice is often witty, sarcastic, and ominous, masking darker gothic elements with social comedy.

The novel explores the tension between rational, scholarly magic and wild, instinctive, often dangerous ‘fairy’ magic, with madness portrayed as a side effect of interacting with the supernatural. The fairy world in Clarke’s narrative is linked to madness, presenting a chaotic supernatural realm. Clarke’s work often addresses the silencing of marginalized voices within historical narratives, using magic as a metaphor for these power dynamics, and she explores the historical silencing of under-represented groups through characters like Stephen Black and Lady Pole.

A central theme is the acquisition, hoarding, and use of knowledge, critiquing elitism and censorship, and examining the consequences of hoarding knowledge and the morality of using magic to cause harm. Clarke has bridged the gap between genre and literary fiction, winning major awards including the Hugo Award (2005) for Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. The novel also highlights female mastery of the dark arts and includes historical figures such as Wellington.

Interestingly, her husband, science fiction writer, Colin Greenland, did not read her debut novel until it was published.

Picked up by the BBC in 2015, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell starred Bertie Carvel, Eddie Marsan and Marc Warren. It was written as a seven episode series and was nominated, and won, several awards including:

British Society of Cinematographers 

2015 – Nominee BSC Award – Best Cinematography in a Television Drama 

Royal Television Society UK 

2015 – Nominee RTS Craft & Design Award – Best Digital Effects Nominee 

2015 – Winner RTS Craft & Design Award – Best Production Design: Drama

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

2016 – Nominee Saturn Award – Best Fantasy Television Series

Banff Television Festival 

2016 – Nominee Banff Rookie Award – Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Action Program

Satellite Awards 

2016 – Nominee Satellite Award – Best Television Series, Genre

Visual Effects Society Awards

2016 – Nominee VES Award – Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode 

Bafta TV Craft

2016 – Winner BAFTA Television Craft Award – Special, Visual & Graphic Effects

2016 – Nominee BAFTA Television Craft Award – Costume Design

2016 – Nominee BAFTA Television Craft Award – Make Up & Hair Design

2016 – Winner BAFTA Television Craft Award – Production Design

Awards and accolades 

Susanna Clarke has received several awards for her books over the years, including:

2001 – Short-listed – World Fantasy Award for Best Novella – Mr Simonelli, or the Fairy Widower

2004 – Longlisted – Booker Prize – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2004 – Shortlisted – Guardian First Book Award – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2004 – Shortlisted – Whitbread First Novel Award – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2004 – Winner – Time Best Novel of the Year – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Shortlisted – British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Winner – Hugo Award for Best Novel – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Winner – Locus Award for Best First Novel – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Winner – Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Shortlisted – Nebula Award for Best Novel – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Winner – World Fantasy Award for Best Novel – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2005 – Winner – British Book Awards as Newcomer of the Year – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

2020 – Shortlisted – Costa Book Award for Novel – Piranesi

2021 – Shortlisted – Encore Award – Piranesi

2021 – Shortlisted – Hugo Award for Best Novel – Piranesi

2021 – Shortlisted – Nebula Award for Best Novel – Piranesi

2021 – Winner – Kitschies Red Tentacle for Best Novel – Piranesi

2021 – Winner – Women’s Prize for Fiction – Piranesi