'Chesterfield gave me my voice; it’s a place I carry with me in everything I write' - award-winning poet Steve Nash to release his debut novel
A university lecturer who credits his Derbyshire upbringing and a school in Chesterfield for nurturing his love of literature is launching his first novel.
Award-winning poet Steve Nash, who is originally from Chesterfield and a former student of Brookfield Community School, will release his murder mystery book on July 31, 2025. Titled Remington Platypus, the paperback is available to pre-order now.
Steve said: “Remington Platypus is many things - badger, detective, Platypus by name, but not by nature. When a grotesque body turns up in the city - a fusion of multiple species, Frankensteined together into something that should never have existed - he knows he can’t look the other way. In a city of fur, feathers, and fangs, where predators set the rules and prey vanish without a trace, Remington is about to learn that some monsters aren’t born—they’re made.”
The 40-year-old author said the story is told entirely from the perspective of animals, something between Watership Down and Silence of the Lambs.
"The book grew out of my love of nature writing, folklore, and crime fiction,” said Steve. “I was always fascinated by the landscapes of the Peak District where I still go walking with my father. The inspiration came partly from the walks with my father and thinking about the Peak District and the way the rural areas connect with the urban ones. The novel has a sort of ecological undercurrent exploring the ways the natural world intersects with and is impacted by the urban and human influences.”
Steve lectures in English Literature, Media and Creative Writing at Leeds Beckett University and was previously an associate lecturer at the University of Derby, teaching English Literature. He is a former Saboteur Award winner for Best Spoken Word Performer, having emerged from a shortlist that included Kae Tempest and Hollie McNish.
He left Chesterfield in the early 2000s to study in York, completing his BA in teaching, then an MA and PhD in English Literature. Steve said: “Derbyshire remains really important to me, both personally and creatively. Chesterfield gave me my voice; it’s a place I carry with me in everything I write. I still think of Derbyshire as home in many ways.”
*Remington Platypus will be published by Northodox Press and is available for pre-order from www.northodox.co.uk/product-page/remington-platypus-paperback-pre-order and from www.waterstones.com/book/remington-platypus/steve-nash/9781917005005