Fiona Melrose

Fiona Melrose
Born1973 (age 52–53)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Alma mater
Years active2016–present

Fiona Melrose (born 1973) is a South African novelist. She is known for her novels Midwinter (2016), Johannesburg (2018) and Even Beyond Death (2025).

Early life and education

Melrose was born in Johannesburg. Melrose graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Master of Arts (MA) in Politics and Literary Criticism, both from the University of the Witwatersrand.[1] After working in finance, she later completed a second MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London.[2]

Career

Via Corsair (a Little, Brown Book Group imprint), Melrose's debut novel Midwinter was published in 2016.[3][4] She wrote the novel while staying with her brother in Woodbridge, Suffolk.[5] Midwinter was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the New Angle Prize.

Melrose reunited with Corsair for the publication of her second novel Johannesburg in 2018. Based on Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway,[6] the novel takes place over a single day in December 2013.[7] Melrose is the second novelist after Karel Schoeman to write a South African Mrs Dalloway tribute, which was the subject of a 2023 comparative academic article by Andrew van der Vlies of the University of Adelaide.[8] Johannesburg was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) Encore Award and also longlisted for a South African Sunday Times CNA Literary Award.

Melrose returned in 2025 with her third novel and first work of historical fiction Even Beyond Death. Set in 1657 Avignon, the novel follows the relationship between Jehan, Marquis de Baudelaire and his Dutch valet Jonathan Kryk.[9] Even Beyond Death was named one of the best historical fiction books of 2025 by The Sunday Times (UK).[10]

Bibliography

  • Midwinter (2016)
  • Johannesburg (2018)
  • Even Beyond Death (2025)

Accolades

Year Award Category Title Result Ref.
2017 New Angle Prize Midwinter Shortlisted [11]
Women's Prize for Fiction Longlisted [12][13]
2018 Royal Society of Literature Encore Award Johannesburg Shortlisted [14]
2019 Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards Barry Ronge Fiction Prize Longlisted [15]

References

  1. ↑ "News about Witsies". University of the Witwatersrand. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Magdalena, Karina (7 January 2017). "Review: Midwinter by Fiona Melrose". Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Harrison, Melissa (16 December 2016). "Midwinter by Fiona Melrose review – grief, pride and familial love". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  4. ↑ Moss, Sarah. "One too many: Fiona Melrose's "risky" novel of African aftermath in East Anglia". The Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Acclaimed novelist Fiona Melrose tells us about her Suffolk inspiration". Great British Life - Suffolk. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Kostelac, Sofia (28 April 2022). "Paying Homage to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway: Revision and Reversion in Fiona Melrose's Johannesburg". A Century of Modernism in South African Literature and Literary Culture. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Scholes, Lucy (25 July 2017). "Book review: Fiona Melrose's Johannesburg". The National. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  8. ↑ van der Vlies, Andrew (1 January 2023). ""Doing very well in South Africa": Fiona Melrose, Karel Schoeman, and the Intertextual Afterlives of Woolf's Mrs Dalloway". Sabinet African Journals. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  9. ↑ Press, Serena (2025). "Even Beyond Death". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  10. ↑ Senior, Antonia; Rennison, Nick (1 September 2025). "The best historical fiction books of 2025". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  11. ↑ Russell, Steve (12 February 2017). "Revealed: The 12 books in the race for The 2017 New Angle Prize. Is your favourite here?". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Archives: A Q&A with Fiona Melrose". Women's Prize. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "Women's Prize for Fiction: Margaret Atwood among finalists". BBC News. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  14. ↑ "The RSL Encore Award 2018 – the shortlist". Royal Society of Literature. 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "Sunday Times Literary Awards Longlist 2018 announced". Sunday Times. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
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