Andrew Michael Hurley

British writer (born 1975)

Andrew Michael Hurley (born 1975)^[1] is a British writer whose debut novel, The Loney, was published in a limited edition of 350 copies on 1 October 2014 by Tartarus Press^[2]^[3] and was published under Hodder and Stoughton's John Murray imprint in 2015 (ISBN 9781473619821).^[4] He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme "British Gothic" in October 2015.^[5]

Literary career

Hurley has previously had two volumes of short stories published by Lime Tree Press : Cages and Other Stories (2006, ISBN 9781411699021) and The Unusual Death of Julie Christie and Other Stories (2008, ISBN 9780955981401).^[3]

The Loney was reviewed in The Guardian and The Telegraph.^[6]^[7] It is set in the area of Morecambe Bay in north west England, described in the text as "that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune".^[4] Hurley has said that the novel's two starting points were "to write a kind of dark version of the Nativity [...] and exploring ideas of faith and belief" and "various wild, lonely places on the north west coast of Lancashire [...] a sense of imminent menace or dormant power lying just under the sand and the water".^[8] It is the winner of the 2015 Costa Book Award for First Novel^[9] as well as the British Book Industry Award for best debut fiction and book of the year.^[10]

His second novel, Devil's Day, was published on 19 October 2017 by John Murray (ISBN 978-1473619869)^[11] and Tartarus Press (ISBN 9781905784981)^[12] Its setting, "The Endlands", is based on Langden valley in Lancashire's Forest of Bowland.^[13] The book "deploys myth, landscape and the tropes of horror to chilling effect".^[14]^[15] Hurley was joint winner of the Royal Society of Literature's 2018 Encore Award for best second novel.^[16]

Hurley's third novel Starve Acre was published 31 October 2019 by John Murray (ISBN 9781529387261). The "Starve Acre" of the title is the home of a couple whose child has died, and it is "a novel which grapples with the irrationality and complexity of grief, the power and potency of folklore, and a moving examination of the effect a child's loss can have on its parents".^[17] The Guardian's critic described it as "an atmospheric tale in the same tradition of English folk-horror" as his previous two books.^[18] The film Starve Acre based on the book, was directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, starred Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith, and premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2023.^[19]

Personal life

He lives in Lancashire, where he teaches English literature and creative writing.^[3]

Awards

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result
2015	The Loney	Costa Book Awards	First Novel	Won
2015	The Loney	Waverton Good Read Award	—	Longlisted
2016	The Loney	Authors' Club First Novel Award	—	Longlisted
2016	The Loney	The British Book Industry Awards	Debut Fiction	Selected
2018	Devil's Day	Encore Award	—	Won

Bibliography

Novels

The Loney (2014)
Devil's Day (2017)
Starve Acre (2019)

Collections

Cages and Other Stories (2006)
The Unusual Death of Julie Christie and Other Stories (2008)

References

^ The Loney: Linked Data. Worldcat. OCLC 919313849. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ "The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley". Tartarus Press. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Authors: Andrew Michael Hurley". Hodder and Stoughton. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b "The Loney". Hodder & Stoughton. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
^ "Open Book: British Gothic". Radio 4. BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ Perry, Sarah (28 August 2015). "The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley review – a gothic masterpiece". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ Martin, Tim (8 September 2015). "The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley, review: 'haunted and haunting'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ "About the author: Andrew Michael Hurley". Foyles. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ "2015 Costa Award Winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
^ Flood, Alison (9 May 2016). "Debut novel The Loney wins book of the year at British Book Industry awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
^ Cowdrey, Katherine (2 February 2017). "New Andrew Michael Hurley novel called Devil's Day". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ Cowdrey, Katherine (18 August 2017). "Yorkshire indie to publish limited edition of Hurley's next novel". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ "Andrew Michael Hurley: Devil's Day". New Writing North. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
^ Apostolides, Zoë (3 November 2017). "Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley — northern frights". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
^ Harrison, M. John (26 October 2017). "Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley review – dark tales from the moors". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
^ "The Encore Award 2018" (PDF). Royal Society of Literature. May 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
^ "Film deal for Hurley as John Murray snaps up third novel". The Bookseller. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
^ Merritt, Stephanie (29 October 2019). "Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley review – an atmospheric tale". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
^ Bradshaw, Peter (12 October 2023). "Starve Acre review – intelligent performances in sinister Yorkshire folk horror". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2023.

External links

"About the author: Andrew Michael Hurley". Foyles. Retrieved 15 October 2015. Includes questions and answers, with a link to an extract from "The Loney"