Nicola Monaghan graduated from the University of York in 1992, and went on to teach for several years before taking a job in the City of London. A career in finance took her to New York, Paris and Chicago, before she gave it all up in 2001 to return to her home town and pursue an MA in creative writing at Nottingham Trent University. The Killing Jar, Nicola's first novel, was inspired by the lives she witnessed on the council estates where she grew up - it won a Betty Trask Award and the Author's Club First Novel Award. Her second novel is Starfishing. She is currently Fellow of the National Academy of Writing, based at UCE Birmingham, where she runs the diploma course in Creative Writing with a professional focus.