NOTED US novelist Jean Hegland has become the first writer-in-residence for a North Yorkshire college.

Ms Hegland, from Healdsburg, California, will be in residency at York St John College until April 4, during which time she will take various writing workshops with students and give a public reading of her work.

Her novel Into the Forest, the story of two teenage sisters in Northern California who learn to live on their own when their parents die, has been translated into 11 languages.

Her visit is the first of the annual writer-in-residence scheme at York St John College's School of Arts.

Gweno Williams, reader in literature studies and a national teaching fellow, said: "It is a great pleasure to welcome such a talented author to York St John.

"Into the Forest has proved a success across the globe and Jean's visit inaugurates an annual writer-in-residence scheme designed to inspire a generation of new writers among our students and in the York community."

While in North Yorkshire, Ms Hegland will be taking part in York Readers' Day, on Saturday, at York Theatre Royal.

She will also be giving a public reading at the college on Tuesday, at 7pm. Admission is free.