LUCY RIBCHESTER was born in Edinburgh. Her novels are The Hourglass Factory (2015), The Amber Shadows (2016), Murder Ballad (2024) and, under the name Elle Connel, Down by the Water (2021) and You Can Stay (2022), as well as an erotic fiction collection Unspeakable Shaking Pleasures (2024), as Lucy Debussy. In 2013, she won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award for the opening chapters of The Hourglass Factory, which went on to be longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Costa Short Story Award and the Manchester Fiction Prize, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In 2016 she was awarded a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and a Creative Scotland Open Project Award for her third novel.
Lucy graduated the University of St Andrews with a first-class degree in English and has a Masters in Shakespearean Studies from Kings College London. She is a member of Scottish Book Trust’s Live Literature group and has taught creative writing in classes and in one-to-one formats, in many different environments including community groups, libraries, conferences and prisons. She formerly worked as a tutor for Higher and A-Level English, and as a literacies volunteer for Edinburgh Council. She also reviews dance and circus for The List magazine.
Lucy has been mentored herself by the author Linda Cracknell. She continues to live in Edinburgh with her partner, twin sons and greyhound.
- Areas of expertise: Crime, historical, quirky & literary/commercial crossover fiction, short stories, young adult
- Location: Edinburgh
- Possible meeting places: National Library of Scotland Cafe, Scottish Storytelling Centre Cafe, National Museum of Scotland cafe
Lucy’s website
