Mavis Cheek was born and grew up in Wimbledon. She began her working life with the contemporary art publishers, Editions Alecto. Cheek worked with artists such as David Hockney, Allen Jones, Patrick Caulfield, Gillian Ayres, Bridget Riley – from whom she learned about modern and contemporary art. After 12 years, Cheek left to study at Hillcroft College for Women where she graduated with distinction in arts. When her daughter Bella was born, shortly after graduating, Cheek began her writing career in earnest. She began with journalism and travel writing, then moved onto short stories, and in 1988 her novel Pause Between Acts was published and won the She/John Menzies First Novel Prize. She has published 15 novels since, and her short stories appear in various collections.
Cheek has served on countless committees, and has earned many fellowships and awards over her career. She is also the founder and patron of the Marlborough Literature Festival which aims to put authorship, rather than celebrity, back at the heart of literature festivals. Since 1989, Cheek has run residential courses for the Arvon Foundation; for the Centre for Literature at Ty Newydd in Wales; at Dartington; at Stratford on Avon, Beverley, Charleston Festivals, among others, and at Marlborough College and various other venues and institutions at home and abroad from palaces to prisons. She currently lives in London.