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Tracy Chevalier is considered to be one of the best historical novelists of her generation. An international best seller, she's sold millions of books worldwide and her most famous work is Girl With A Pearl Earring.

The book has been translated into 39 languages and was made into a major film starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johanssen.

Tracy was born in Washington DC in the United States and moved to the UK in 1984 after gaining a BA in English from Oberlin College in Ohio. She now has dual citizenship and lives in London along with an English husband, an English son and a tortoiseshell cat!

In 2008 Tracy will be the Writer in Residence at York Art Gallery. This is her first residency and it's probably the first time such a high profile author has taken up residency in an art gallery.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio York's Adam Tomlinson asked Tracy what she would be doing as Writer in Residence.

"I’m going to be taking part in many events to try and engage with the public in new and different ways in the gallery, I think it’s just looking with new and fresh eyes at what the gallery has to offer. I’m not an art historian, I’m not trained as an art historian and I’m not an artist either.

"I’m just Joe Public who happens to be interested in art. I’ve had a lot of people email me or write to me after reading 'Girl With A Pearl Earring' and say 'having read this book I feel like I’m looking at art in a new and different way with fresh eyes'. I thought if there’s a way I can help people do that in an actual gallery, that would be great fun."

Among the events planned are 'the writer is in' sessions.

"Sometimes you go into galleries and you see painters copying paintings from the wall like they’re learning how to paint, so I thought I’d sit and write. One of my projects is to write at least one short story about a painting in the gallery, so I’m actually going to sit at a desk, I write longhand then type it into the computer. I’m going to have all that there.

"I’m going to be writing about a painting I’m going to have posters up to encourage people to come and talk to me and I might ask them something. They might ask what I’m doing and I might say 'well have a look, I’ve just written this sentence about her hair, and it’s red, what word could I use instead of red'.

"I want to put myself out there and demystify both the process of writing and the process of telling stories, because I think that we all, as human beings, tell stories all the time and artwork is there just to turn us on to stories and I think when people actually see me doing that it might make them feel more inclined to as well.

Tracy is very excited by the prospect of spending time at the York Art Gallery. She is constantly inspired by art and always makes time to visit the local art gallery wherever she is in the world.

Lets hope she gets plenty of inspiration during her year in York.