Shelley Silas

Shelley Silas was born in Kolkata, India, with grandparents from India, Iraq and Malaysia. She grew up in north west London, and did the unthinkable by crossing the River Thames to south east London 27 years ago, where she has lived ever since. She is married to the psychotherapist, novelist and activist, Dr Stella Duffy, OBE.

Shelley has an M.A. in Creative Writing (UEA), a B.A. in English (Birkbeck) and in 2024 graduated with an M.A. in Existential Coaching (philosophy based) from the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling accredited by Middlesex university.

She has contributed many original plays and adaptations to BBC Radio 4, including award-winning I am Emma Humphreys (starring Joanne Froggatt), Mr Jones goes Driving (Richard Briers) and The Trial of the Well of Loneliness (Anastasia Hille and Kate Fleetwood). She was commissioned to write  two series of Val McDermid’s DEAD crime series, and adaptations of Paul Scott’s The Raj Quartet (with novelist John Harvey), and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s novel Heat and Dust.

She compiled, edited and contributed to the anthology, Twelve Days (Virago). Her VR short The Turning Forest was originally written as an experimental piece for BBC R&D. With visuals created by Oscar Raby, it was chosen for the MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival), Pi Centre Montreal, Toronto International Film Festival, Edinburgh Digital Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, London, and the Sydney Film Festival 2017. It was one of Wired.com‘s eight favourite pieces at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was also chosen to launch the original Google Pixel and Daydream headset which Google nominated for best VR Experience in the 2017 Play Awards. Shelley has also worked as a development producer for Brazen Productions on the TV series, The Hidden Case of Ewan Forbes: The Transgender Trial that Threatened to Upend the British Establishment."

Shelley’s theatre credits include Calcutta Kosher (Southwark Playhouse and Theatre Royal Stratford East), Mercy Fine (Clean Break, writer-in-residence), Falling (The Bush Theatre, Pearson writer-in-residence), and Eating Ice-cream on Gaza Beach (NYT/Soho).

Alongside her writing, Shelley works as a coach and creative mentor, and facilitates workshops for the Royal Literary Fund. She took up running in her late fifties and completed the Paris marathon in 2019, as well as two triathlons, an aquathlon, numerous 10ks, several half marathons, and a 100km overnight run/walk. Swimming has now overtaken running.