Syd Moore

Artist Location: **Wickford**

Twitter **@SydMoore1**
Facebook **@SydMooreWriter**

Artist Bio

Best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries (Strange Magic, Strange Sight, Strange Fascination, Strange Tombs, Strange Tricks) that feature Rosie Strange and Sam Stone and were shortlisted for the Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award 2018, Syd Moore has also written short stories – Strange Casebook (2018) and The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas (2019) , The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas (2020) - which have been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘dagger award’ by the Crime Writers Association. She has also written two standalone novels, The Drowning Pool (2011), and Witch Hunt (2012) and has been commissioned to write a new series set in the Second World War.

Her debut screenplay, Witch West, has been optioned by Hidden Door Productions with director, Jane Gull (My Feral Heart), at the helm. Moore was also the Assistant Curator of ABBA: Super Troupers The Exhibition that launched at the O2 in December 2019 and co-curated This is What an Essex Girl Looks Like at the Beecroft Gallery, as part of her work with the Essex Girls Liberation Front. Having founded the ‘Front’ she spearheaded the campaign to have the definition of ‘Essex Girl’ removed from the Oxford Learners’ Dictionary. And was successful.

For nine years prior to writing Syd was a lecturer, Moore worked extensively in the publishing industry and presented Channel 4’s book programme, Pulp. She was the founding editor of Level 4, an arts and culture magazine, co-creator of Superstrumps, the game that reclaims female stereotypes. She regularly speaks on radio, television, at universities, on political panels and at festivals about the stereotype and problems that faced women in the past as well as today. Prior to the pandemic she teamed up with Kirsty Brimelow QC, a legal Consultant to Unicef and former legal lead for the United Nations Bar, to speak about Harmful Practices Related to Witchcraft Belief. In march 2022 she launched an interactive walking trail commemorating the women persecuted in the 1645 Manningtree witch hunt, a collaboration with local people, Professor Alison Rowlands and Snapping the Stiletto.

Her writing has been described as ‘Dennis Wheatley meets Caitlin Moran’ (Starburst Magazine).

Syd Moore was commissioned to explore Wickford and its communities. Her research involved time spent with residents in different locations, visiting culturally.
First ever Author in residence with Essex Libraries, Working with Omnia Foundation that works with Young people aged 12-16 to develop literacy and creative writing skills.
Twitter: @SydMoore1
Facebook: @SydMooreWriter