Slavin, Helen 1966–

PERSONAL:

Born 1966, in Lancashire, England; married. Education: Studied at the University of Warwick.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Trowbridge, England. Agent—Caroline Michel, William Morris Agency, Centre Point, 103 New Oxford St., London WC1A 1DD, England.

CAREER:

Writer and scriptwriter.

WRITINGS:

Detention (play), produced in London at Theatre Upstairs, 1981.

The Extra Large Medium (novel), Black Cat (New York, NY), 2007.

Writer for television series, including Holby City, Heartbeat, Boon, The House of Eliott, and EastEnders. Also wrote short film screenplays.

SIDELIGHTS:

Helen Slavin is an English writer who writes for a variety of media, including stage, radio, television, and film. Slavin's television credits include popular British dramas such as Holby City, Heartbeat, Boon, The House of Eliott, and EastEnders. In an interview in Authortrek, Slavin explained that reading is what got her started as a writer, adding: ‘I always loved fairy tales and myths especially. When I was in Class Two of infant school, I used to write and rewrite versions of the fairy tales we'd been told or that I'd read about. It's fair to say I started writing as soon as I could form enough letters. I had parents who always made sure there was pen and paper to hand. I just wanted to be part of that, of the idea of opening up these pieces of cardboard and finding somewhere else hidden inside."

In 2007, Slavin published her first novel, The Extra Large Medium. Slavin introduces Annie Colville, a medium who can communicate with the dead who have not yet entered heaven. She helps them sort through some final earthly business before they move on. In the process Annie searches for answers about the identity of her father and the mysterious disappearance of her husband. Reviews were mostly positive. Rachel Hore, writing in the London Guardian, said that Slavin wrote with a ‘wicked sense of humour and vivid imagination.’ In the New York Times Book Review, Dawn Drzall pointed out that the novel ‘is stuffed to bursting with subplots, and Annie's voice can be irritatingly jokey,’ but found that ‘these flaws do little to diminish the novel's pleasures.’ A contributor to Publishers Weekly took note of Annie's character, remarking that she ‘endears herself to the reader, in part because her gift exhausts her more than it elevates her."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advertiser (Swindon, England), August 18, 2000, ‘Writer Lands Top Stars."

Guardian (London, England), May 27, 2006, Rachel Hore, review of The Extra Large Medium.

New York Times Book Review, September 9, 2007, Dawn Drzall, review of The Extra Large Medium, p. 28.

Publishers Weekly, March 5, 2007, review of The Extra Large Medium, p. 38.

ONLINE

Authortrek Web site,http://www.authortrek.com/ (October 10, 2007), author profile.

Doollee.com,http://www.doollee.com/ (October 10, 2007), author profile.

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (October 10, 2007), author profile.