Stella Duffy

Born in London in 1963, Stella Duffy’s formative years were spent residing on a council estate located in Woolwich. When she was five years old, her family emigrated to Tokoroa, New Zealand. She is the youngest of seven children, and her upbringing included significant time spent both in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. At Victoria University of Wellington, Duffy’s talent for creative work and stage presence became evident during her study of English literature alongside drama.

Duffy’s career encompasses a wide range of artistic endeavors. She has written over sixty short stories and many plays, alongside sixteen novels since 1994, including Calendar Girl (1994), Wavewalker (1996), Beneath the Blonde (1997), Singling Out The Couples (1998), Fresh Flesh (1999), and The Room of Lost Things (2008). She is known for the Saz Martin series, beginning with Calendar Girl, which features a private investigator. Her work explores various themes, as seen in novels like Singling Out The Couples, which was optioned for a film, and The Room of Lost Things, which was longlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize. Duffy also contributed to the fiction anthology Tart Noir (2002), co-edited with Val McDermid, and completed Ngaio Marsh's unfinished novel, Money in the Morgue, in 2018. She has adapted the film script of State of Happiness and appeared in The Bill (1997) and Absolution (2001).

Duffy’s talents extend to comedy and improvisation, having been a member of Spontaneous Combustion since 1988. She is also an associate artist with Improbable. Her solo show, Breaststrokes, has been performed in cities including London, Belfast, Cardiff, Dublin, York, and Amsterdam. She wrote and presented a documentary called How to Write a Mills and Boon for BBC’s Time Shift (2008). Duffy's work has garnered recognition including the 2002 Crime Writers' Association's Macallan Short Story Dagger for 'Martha Grace', the CWA Short Story Dagger Award in 2013 for 'Come Away With Me', and Stonewall Writer of the Year awards in 2008 and 2010. The British Empire bestowed the honor of Officer (OBE) upon Stella Duffy in 2016. Currently residing south of the river with her partner, playwright Shelley Silas, Duffy is also the originator and joint director of the Fun Palaces campaign, focused on facilitating free talent sharing within local communities.