Professor Wendy O'Shea-Meddour

Professor Wendy O'Shea-Meddour is the Director of Creative Writing at Exeter University. Prior to joining the English Department in 2018, she taught English Literature and Critical Theory at Oxford University, Cardiff University, and Reading University.

Since Professor O'Shea-Meddour's debut was shortlisted for the 'Branford Boase Award for Outstanding First Novel' (2012), she has gone on to publish twenty six children's books, including Lubna and Pebble, which was named as one of the 'Best 10 Childen's Books of the Year' by TIME Magazine, and Tibble and Grandpa, a UKLA 'Outstanding Winner'. Highlights of her writing career include appearances on Woman's Hour, CBeebies' Bedtime Story, CBBC's Newround and the Edinburgh Literary Festival, as well as having her work read on CBeebie's by celebrities including Tom Hardy, Emily Watson and Louis Theroux The Children's Laureate has described her work as 'simply brilliant,' and she was also the recipient of the US's prestigious 'Margaret Wise Brown Prize for Children's Literature' in 2020.

A strong link between academic research and creative practice is a striking feature of Professor O'Shea-Meddour's writing, and current research projects on 'child wellbeing' and 'migration' in children's literature have resulted in both grants and internationally acclaimed creative writing publications. Award-winning titles include: Lubna and Pebble,Tibble and Grandpa,Tisha and the Blossom, Howard the Average Gecko, A Hen in the Wardrobe, the Wendy Quill series, The Secret Railway series, How the Library (not the Prince) Saved Rapunzel and Dottie Blanket on the Hilltop.

Research supervision:

Professor O'Shea-Meddour's current Creative Writing and English Literature PhD students work on themes including: 'Domestic Abuse in the Caribbean Novel', 'Poverty Porn in Working Class Fiction,' 'Time Slips and Belonging in Children's Literature', ''Literary Constructions of Childhood Trauma in Fiction based in Afghanistan', and 'Childwellbeing and Children's Books'.

She recently supervised Cherie Jones' Women's Prize shortlisted novel, 'How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House' to completion.