Shirley McKay grew up in Tynemouth but now lives in Fife with her family. She won the Young Observer playwriting competition at the age of fifteen, and her play was staged at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. She moved on to the University of Saint Andrews to study English and Linguistics before going to Durham University to pursue a masters degree in Romantic and Seventeenth-Century writing. She received a nomination for the CWA Debut Dagger. Shirley is a self-employed proofreader.