May is National Share-A-Story Month (NSSM) is an annual celebration of the power of storytelling and story sharing by the Federation of Children’s Books Group (FCBG).
With this in mind, we’ve taken a look at authors and storytellers from the Lincolnshire area to celebrate our county’s writing talents.
If you know of any Lincolnshire-based authors who you feel should be on this list, let us know.
- Alfred Tennyson - of course, one of the best writers and poets England has to offer should be top of this list - and he was from Lincolnshire! Lord Tennyson was born in Somersby, near Spilsby, and was one of Queen Victoria’s favourite authors, being named as Poet Laureate for much of her reign.
- Nick Louth - Known for his popular crime series, including those based around the Bernard Jones diaries and DCI Craig Gillard, Nick Louth is a bestselling writer of thriller novels, investment commentator, and an award-winning financial journalist, who has written for international news outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and USA Today.
- Colin Dexter - Many fans of the hit novels and TV series 'Inspector Morse', starring John Thaw and later 'Endeavour' with Kevin Whateley, will surely know that the mastermind behind our beloved grumpy police inspector is actually from Stamford. Mr Dexter wrote 13 books about supersleuth Inspector Morse, which have sold millions of copies around the world.
- Alan Stennett - A popular writer and broadcaster with BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Mr Stennett has written several books on Lincolnshire’s historic railways, and was awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to the Farming Industry and Broadcasting in Lincolnshire in 2015.
- Milly Reynolds - Lincolnshire born and bred Milly Reynolds has based her popular Mike Malone murder mystery series around Spalding, and there are many landmarks in the surrounding area that a local reader will recognise. She has now sold 56,000 books worldwide.
- Samantha Lee Howe - Bestselling author Samantha Lee Howe’s debut psychological thriller, The Stranger In Our Bed, was released in February 2020 and became a USA TODAY bestseller. Since then, Samantha has signed a three-book deal for her spy thriller series, The House of Killers and ‘The Stranger in Our Bed’’ has now been adapted into a feature film, due for release this summer.
- Joseph Banks - Botanist and scientist Joseph Banks in Lincolnshire and when he inherited the Revesby Abbey, became one of England's wealthiest men. His scientific discoveries and works were documented in his numerous journals, which he kept for more than 30 years of his life.
- Tracey Borman - Hailing from the village of Scothern, near Lincoln, Tracey Borman is best known for her fiction and non-fiction novels based around the historical English courts - most notably Secret Lives of the Tudors, Henry VIII: And the Men Who Made Him and Elizabeth’s Women.
- Margaret Dickinson - One of Lincolnshire’s best-known authors, Margaret Dickinson was born in Gainsborough and moved to the Lincolnshire coast as a child, where her love of the yellow-belly coast began. To date, she has written more than 30 novels, the most recent being Secrets at Bletchley Park.
- Gavin Extence - Born in Swineshead, Gavin Extence won the Waterstones 11 literary prize for his first book, ‘The Universe Versus Alex Woods’ in 2013. His second book, 'The Mirror World of Melody Black', which follows a young girl’s descent into mental illness, was released last year.
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Nick Louth
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Colin Dexter. Photo courtesy of Pan Macmillan. Photo: Pan Macmillan
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Alan Stennett.
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Samantha Lee Howe. Photo: Samantha Lee Howe.