I was born in Canada in 1964 to Scottish parents, but brought up in Fife, Scotland. In 1981 the family emigrated to the Republic of South Africa, but in 1984 (after an unsuccessful University career) my brother and I were forced to return to the UK to avoid Military Service with the South African Defence Force, then fighting a small but vicious war against SWAPO insurgents in northern Namibia.
Back in the UK I worked at Butlins in Ayr, before training in Computer Programming in Glasgow and moving to work in London in 1986. I have lived in Cirencester since 1994.
I am married to Rebecca and we have a son Rowan, born in 2000.
My first attempts at writing were prompted by the maps and timelines at the end of The Lord of the Rings. Inspired by these, I began inventing my own worlds, drawing maps to describe them and listing events that had happened to the people who lived there.
After years writing ideas down, I took the plunge with a Creative Writing course at Cirencester College. I have since published short stories in various small press magazines and the rough drafts of 3 novels. When iPlayer was launched I fell back in love with radio drama and I also began writing for radio. I suspect I thought it would prove an easy way to make money while waiting for a novel to be published…
I have written/produced a number of plays for Corinium Radio, Cirencester’s community radio station. I write scripts, for both stage and radio, as well as short and long fiction.
When it became clear that bombarding the BBC with scripts wasn’t a realistic way to succeed, I studied for an MA in Scriptwriting at Bath Spa University, taking the course part-time between 2012 and 2014. I graduated with a Distinction in July 2015. Since then I have been building a track record, submitting scripts to various opportunities, writing and recording radio pieces and working on a number of major pieces.
In 2018 my first full length script Parzival was accepted by Bristol Old Vic and won me a place on the BOV Open Session Writers program. I get a year of support and development and the play will be produced in early 2020.
Stephen Connolly Writer 