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Mari Strachan Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Mari Strachan
Photo: Mari Strachan

Mari Strachan

Mari Strachan Biography

Mari Strachan was born into a Welsh family in Harlech, which is located on the north-west coast of Wales, and was brought up there with Welsh as her first language.

After graduating from Cardiff University, she became a qualified chartered librarian, and she worked in a variety of libraries. She has also been a book reviewer, researcher, translator, copywriter and web editor.

In 2007 she acquired an MA (with distinction) in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University.

In addition to writing and reading, Strachan's interests include the history as well as future forms of sustainable living.

She and her husband now live on a tiny smallholding in Ceredigion.

Mari Strachan's website

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Interview

Mari Strachan answers questions about her first book, The Earth Hums in B Flat, set in 1950s Wales.

We find it inspirational that you are being published for the first time in your sixties. Has this novel been a long time coming?

No. I've always written, on and off, scraps, short stories, even poems (terrible ones, I'm no poet!) but never thought anything was worth publishing. The urge to write is hard to ignore. I decided to focus on it, a now or never thing, and in 2002 applied for a place on a part-time, on-line creative writing Masters course with Manchester Metropolitan University. The course was excellent; the way it studied other novels and made me focus on my own writing showed me that I had been ignoring my own voice and style and trying to imitate other writers whose books I admired. That was a revelation to me. The Earth Hums in B Flat was written as the 'dissertation' element of the course. It began with an image that had been in my mind for some time (so maybe I should qualify that adamant 'no' at the beginning) of a skinny child, with wild red hair, balancing on the seat of a chair with her arms outstretched. Altogether, it took three years to write (there was a year when I did no writing when my energies were taken up by family matters). I graduated in 2007 with distinction, and ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Mari Strachan at BookBrowse
The Earth Hums in B Flat jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Mari Strachan but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Peter Ho Davies

    Peter Ho Davies

    Peter Ho Davie's latest book is A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself. His previous novel, The Fortunes, a New York Times Notable Book, won the Anisfield-Wolf Award and the Chautauqua Prize, and was a finalist for the Dayton ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Earth Hums in B Flat

    Try:
    The Welsh Girl
    by Peter Ho Davies

  • Marsha Mehran

    Marsha Mehran

    Born in Tehran, Marsha Mehran escaped the upheaval of the Iranian revolution with her family. She grew up in Argentina and the United States. She also lived in Australia and Ireland. Mehran's debut novel Pomegranate Soup was ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Earth Hums in B Flat

    Try:
    Pomegranate Soup
    by Marsha Mehran

We recommend 5 similar authors

View all 5 Read-Alikes

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