Matt Wesolowski
Matt Wesolowski | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 August 1981 |
| 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 | edit source]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 | edit source]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.[2]
His debut novella was The Black Land published by Blood Bound Books in 2013.
Six Stories series
[edit | edit source]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 | edit source]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 | edit source]Matt Wesolowski lives in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne with his wife and son.
Bibliography
[edit | edit source]| 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
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Further reading
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