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Andrew Michael Hurley

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Andrew Michael Hurley (born 1975) is a British writer whose debut novel, The Loney, was published in a limited edition of 350 copies on 1 October 2014 by Tartarus Press[1][2] and was published under Hodder and Stoughton's John Murray imprint in 2015.[3] He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme "British Gothic" in October 2015.[4]

Early life and education

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Hurley was born in 1975[5] in Preston, Lancashire and grew up there, spending holidays in Cumbria and Yorkshire "in the sort of rural, rugged landscapes dotted with smallholdings that he now writes about".[6] He has said that at the aged of ten he was obsessed with Tolkien,[7] and that on family holidays he would look out for books of local ghost stories.[6] He has worked as a teacher and a librarian.[6]

Literary career

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Hurley had two volumes of short stories published by Lime Tree Press: Cages and Other Stories (2006) and The Unusual Death of Julie Christie and Other Stories (2008).[2]

His debut novel, The Loney, was reviewed in The Guardian and The Telegraph.[8][9] It is set in the area of Morecambe Bay in north west England, described in the text as "that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune".[3] Hurley has said that the novel's two starting points were "to write a kind of dark version of the Nativity [...] and exploring ideas of faith and belief" and "various wild, lonely places on the north west coast of Lancashire [...] a sense of imminent menace or dormant power lying just under the sand and the water".[10] He has also described how the landscapes and placenames around Silverdale, further north on Morecambe Bay, influenced his writing.[7] It is the winner of the 2015 Costa Book Award for First Novel[11] as well as the British Book Industry Award for best debut fiction and book of the year.[12]

His second novel, Devil's Day, was published on 19 October 2017 by John Murray [13] and Tartarus Press[14] Its setting, "The Endlands", is based on Langden valley in Lancashire's Forest of Bowland.[15] The book "deploys myth, landscape and the tropes of horror to chilling effect".[16][17] Hurley was joint winner of the Royal Society of Literature's 2018 Encore Award for best second novel.[18]

Hurley's third novel Starve Acre was published 31 October 2019 by John Murray. The "Starve Acre" of the title is the home of a couple whose child has died, and it is "a novel which grapples with the irrationality and complexity of grief, the power and potency of folklore, and a moving examination of the effect a child's loss can have on its parents".[19] The Guardian's critic described it as "an atmospheric tale in the same tradition of English folk-horror" as his previous two books.[20] The film Starve Acre based on the book, was directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, starred Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith, and premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2023.[21]

His fourth novel, Barrowbeck was published on 24 October 2024 and comprises a collection of tales about the fictional village of Barrowbeck, on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, across 1,000 years.[22][23][24] A series of stories based in Barrowbeck were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2022 under the title Voices in the Valley; readers included Maxine Peake, Reece Shearsmith, Toby Jones, Tamsin Greig and Jessica Raine.[25]

Hurley's story "At the Rising of the Sun" was read by Stephen Campbell Moore in the BBC Radio 4 series Short Works in June 2025.[26]

Personal life

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Hurley has been a lecturer in "creative writing (fiction)" at Manchester Metropolitan University since 2016.[27] He lives in the Preston area, having previously lived in London and Manchester.[6]

Awards

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Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2015 The Loney Costa Book Awards First Novel Won [28]
Waverton Good Read Award — Longlisted
2016 Authors' Club First Novel Award — Longlisted
British Book Industry Awards Book of the Year Selected [29]
Debut Fiction Selected
2018 Devil's Day Encore Award — Won [30]

Selected publications

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Novels

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  • The Loney (2014, Tartarus: ISBN 9781905784691; 2015, John Murray: ISBN 9781473619821)
  • Devil's Day (2017, John Murray: ISBN 9781473619869; Tartarus: ISBN 9781905784981)
  • Starve Acre (2019, John Murray: ISBN 9781529387261)
  • Barrowbeck (2024, John Murray: ISBN 9781399817486)

Collections

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Short stories

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  • "While The Nightjar Sleeps" (2021) in The Best British Short Stories 2017 (Salt Publishing: ISBN 978-1784631123)
  • "Katy" (2018) in Seaside Special - Postcards From the Edge (Blue Moose Books: ISBN 978-1910422427)
  • "Mr Lanyard's Last Case" (2018) in Eight Ghosts The English Heritage Book of New Ghost Stories (September Publishing: ISBN 978-1910463741)
  • "Hunger" (2020) in Strange Tales Tartarus Press At 30 (Tartarus: Limited edition or ebook)[31]
  • "Clavicle Wood" (2021) in Test Signal: Northern Anthology of New Writing (Bloomsbury: ISBN 9781526630902)
  • "The Hanging of the Greens" (2021) in The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights (Sphere: ISBN 978-0751581973)
  • "The Old Play" (2023) in The Winter Spirits Ghostly Tales for Festive Nights (Sphere: ISBN 978-1408727584 )

References

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  1. ^ "The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley". Tartarus Press. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Authors: Andrew Michael Hurley". Hodder and Stoughton. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b "The Loney". Hodder & Stoughton. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Open Book: British Gothic". Radio 4. BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Andrew Michael Hurley". PLACE 2020-2021. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d Armstrong, Neil (7 November 2024). "'Weird things can happen in the countryside': Britain's creepiest new horror stories". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b Hurley, Andrew Michael (19 April 2016). "Andrew Michael Hurley: how the north made The Loney a gothic horror". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  8. ^ Perry, Sarah (28 August 2015). "The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley review – a gothic masterpiece". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  9. ^ Martin, Tim (8 September 2015). "The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley, review: 'haunted and haunting'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. ^ "About the author: Andrew Michael Hurley". Foyles. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  11. ^ "2015 Costa Award Winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  12. ^ Flood, Alison (9 May 2016). "Debut novel The Loney wins book of the year at British Book Industry awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  13. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (2 February 2017). "New Andrew Michael Hurley novel called Devil's Day". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  14. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (18 August 2017). "Yorkshire indie to publish limited edition of Hurley's next novel". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Andrew Michael Hurley: Devil's Day". New Writing North. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  16. ^ Apostolides, Zoë (3 November 2017). "Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley — northern frights". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  17. ^ Harrison, M. John (26 October 2017). "Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley review – dark tales from the moors". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  18. ^ "The Encore Award 2018" (PDF). Royal Society of Literature. May 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Film deal for Hurley as John Murray snaps up third novel". The Bookseller. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  20. ^ Merritt, Stephanie (29 October 2019). "Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley review – an atmospheric tale". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  21. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (12 October 2023). "Starve Acre review – intelligent performances in sinister Yorkshire folk horror". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  22. ^ Barrowbeck. Hachette. 6 May 2024. ISBN 9781-3998-1748-6. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley: Stories with an ominous quality, like a knock at the door on a dark evening". The Irish Times. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley review – creepy tales from the valley". Big Issue. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  25. ^ "Voices in the Valley". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  26. ^ "Short Works - At the Rising of the Sun by Andrew Michael Hurley". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  27. ^ "Andrew Michael Hurley". Manchester Metropolitan University. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  28. ^ Flood, Alison (17 November 2015). "Costa category awards 2015: tiny presses square up to big hitters". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  29. ^ "British Book Industry Awards 2016 winners announced | Books+Publishing". Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  30. ^ Callaghan, Morgan (9 May 2018). "Encore Award 2018 – joint winners announced - Royal Society of Literature". Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  31. ^ "Tartarus Press at 30". www.tartaruspress.com. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
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