Michelle Paver
Novelist
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winner for her novel Ghost Hunter, the final book in a six part fantasy series called Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. She then began writing a children's series called Gods and Warriors.
She studied biochemistry at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford where she received a first-class degree before becoming a law firm partner.
Her father's death in 1996 resulted in her taking a one-year sabbatical away from law to travel France and America. During this time, she authored her first book Without Charity.
She was born in Malawi (then Nayasaland) to a Belgian mother and South African father who ran a newspaper. She moved to Wimbledon, England when she was three years old.
She won the Guardian Award in 2010, the year after it was won by Mal Peet.