Diane Samuels

Early life

She was born into a Jewish family in Liverpool in 1960. Samuels studied history at Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge and then studied for a PGCE in drama at Goldsmiths, University of London. She worked as a drama teacher in inner London secondary schools for five years and as an education officer at the Unicorn Theatre for children.

Career

Samuels has been a full-time writer since 1992. Her works include Kindertransport (1993), Frankie’s Monster – an adaptation of Vivien Alcock's The Monster Garden, The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari (2001), and Three Sisters on Hope Street, co-written with Tracy-Ann Oberman.

With singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert she has written a musical, The A-Z of Mrs P, which tells the story of Phyllis Pearsall's creation of the London A to Z street atlas. The play was performed in workshop with actress Sophie Thompson in May 2011 and was performed at Southwark Playhouse from 21 February to 29 March 2014, starring Peep Show actress Isy Suttie.

Samuels was a Pearson Creative Research Fellow at the British Library and is a reviewer of books for The Guardian newspaper.