Alison Louise Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scots writer, academic and stand-up comedian. She writes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and is known for her dark tone and her blending of realism and fantasy. She contributes columns and reviews to European newspapers.^[1]

Kennedy was born in Dundee to Edwardene Mildred, a teacher, and Robert Alan Kennedy, a psychology lecturer. Her parents divorced when she was 13. She attended the fee-paying High School of Dundee and went on to study for a BA Hons in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts at the University of Warwick.^[2][3][4]

From 1987 to 1989,^{[citation needed]} Kennedy was a community arts worker for Clydebank District Council. She then went on to a role as writer-in-residence for Hamilton and East Kilbride Social Work Department from 1989 to 1991. Her work there won a special Social Work Today Award in 1990. From 1989 to 1995 she worked on Project Ability, a Glasgow-based visual arts organisation. In 1995 she was a part-time lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.^[4][5]

In 2009, she donated the short story Vanish to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Air" collection.^[6] In 2016, her novel Serious Sweet was long-listed for the Booker Prize.

In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, she signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."^[7][8]

In 2020 she began contributing a column on her views of Brexit to the German daily paper Süddeutsche Zeitung.^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}

Kennedy currently lives in the Scottish Highlands, having moved from Wivenhoe^[13] and has been an associate professor in Creative Writing at the University of Warwick^[14] since 2007, having previously taught creative writing at the University of St Andrews from 2003 to 2007.

She has performed as a stand-up comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe and literary festivals. Her main comedy club has been The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.^[15]

• Scottish Arts Council Book Award four times^[5]
• 1993, 2003 Granta Best Young British Novelist^[5][16]
• 1991 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year, Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains^[17]
• 1993 Edinburgh Fringe First, The Audition^[17][18]
• 1994 Somerset Maugham Award, Looking for the possible dance^[5][17]
• 1996 Encore Award winner, So I Am Glad^[19]
• 2007 Saltire Society Book of the Year, Day^[5][20]
• 2007 Lannan Literary Award for fiction^[5]
• 2007 Austrian State Prize for European Literature winner^[21]
• 2007 Costa Book Awards Book of the Year, winner for Day^[22]
• 2008 Internationale Eifel-Literatur-Preis^[5][23]
• 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award shortlist All the Rage^[24]
• 2016 Heinrich Heine Prize^[25]
• 2016 Ehrenpreis des Österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln^[26]