Stephanie Merritt (born 1974, Surrey) is an English critic and feature writer who has contributed to various publications including The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, New Humanist and Die Welt. She was Deputy Literary Editor of The Observer from 1998 to 2006 and currently writes for The Observer and The Guardian.
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She graduated in English from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1996.
Merritt is the author of three novels, her first Gaveston (Faber & Faber) won a Betty Trask Award from the Society of Authors in 2002. Her second, Real (2005), for which she was also commissioned to write the screenplay, and her third Heresy (2010), a historical thriller featuring Giordano Bruno, under the pseudonym S. J. Parris.[1][2] A fourth novel, Prophecy; a sequel to Heresy was published in 2011.[3] She has also written a memoir, The Devil Within, published by Vermilion in 2008 and shortlisted for the Mind Book Award, which discusses her experiences living with depression.
Merritt has appeared regularly as a critic and panellist on BBC Radio 4 and BBC7, has been a judge for the Costa Biography Award and the Orange New Writing Award as well as the Perrier Award, and is a regular interviewer and author at various literary festivals, as well as the National Theatre. During 2007 and 2008 she curated the Talks and Debates programme on issues in contemporary arts and politics at London's Soho Theatre.