Jay Griffiths

Jay Griffiths was born in Manchester and studied English Literature at Oxford University. She spent a couple of years living in a shed on the outskirts of Epping Forest and is now based in Wales. She is the author of Wild: An Elemental Journey, which took seven years to research and write and was named winner of the inaugural Orion Book Award. Jay is also a regular contributor to the Guardian, Orion magazine and The Idler. Her newest book, Tristimania: A Diary of Manic Depression tells the story of a devastating year-long episode of manic depression, culminating in a long solo pilgrimage across Spain. The book is rare in recording the experience of mania and shows how the condition is at once terrifying and also profoundly creative. In exploring its literary influence, Griffiths examines the Trickster role, and explores Shakespeare's work for deft and telling descriptions of manic depression.