Helen Epega is a writer, librettist and composer, best known for creating Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera, the world’s first opera in Pidgin English. Creating works as The Venus Bushfires, she blends lyrical storytelling with African percussion and classical forms to explore identity, cultural memory and accessibility. This year, she wrote Of Earth and Quill, a…
Simon has been a barrister since 1978 and an author since 1988. He was instrumental in setting up the Road Victims Trust charity, supporting those bereaved or suffering life-changing injuries on the roads, and sat on its board for many years. He was also the winner of the Bar Pro Bono prize for creating the…
Julia Williams has been working in the publishing industry for over thirty years as both an editor and a writer. She started her career in academic books, before working in children’s books for ten years. She combined freelance editing with family life for sixteen years, during which period she became a published author. Julia has…
Nadine Matheson is a bestselling author. Her debut crime fiction novel, The Jigsaw Man, was published in 2021 and has been sold in 17 territories to date. She is criminal defence lawyer, teaches law and presents training courses in advocacy and communication skills. In 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and has…
Helen Fields is a former criminal and family law barrister. She was first traditionally published in 2017, but self-published two books before that. She has written a Scottish police procedural series set in Edinburgh, and various standalone thrillers with HarperCollins. As HS Chandler, she published a legal thriller with Trapeze. Helen has also published a short story series…
Harriet Evans is the author of thirteen novels, several Top Ten bestsellers, two Richard and Judy selections, and she has sold over a million copies worldwide. Before this, she was a publisher, first at Penguin, then Headline where she served on the board. In a varied and rewarding publishing career she has edited authors from…
A journalist and professional author for four decades, Nicholas Rankin has written six non-fiction books published by Faber. They include Telegram from Guernica, the first biography of George Steer, the anti-fascist reporter and friend of Haile Selassie, Churchill’s Wizards, a study of British camouflage and deception, and Ian Fleming’s Commandos, about the writer’s role in naval intelligence. Nick…
Juliet McKenna is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy author and also writes historical crime fiction under the pseudonym JM Alvey. Juliet has been a long-term member of the SoA, having joined in 1997 after she was offered her first publishing contract. Juliet originally worked as a bookseller in 1994 for Ottakar’s, which gave her insight into…
Charles Harris is an author and award winning writer-director for television and cinema, having traditionally published two novels (twice award-nominated) and three non-fiction books, as well as self-publishing a collection of short stories and a further non-fiction book. Charles previously worked in the Film and TV industry in various roles, ranging from screenwriting and film…
Abie Longstaff is a children’s writer. Her books range from picture books to middle grade fiction (spanning roughly ages 2 to 11) and she is published by Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Hachette, Templar and others. She also writes school readers for a range of educational publishers. You can find her on Twitter under @abielongstaff
Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin is the founder of the multi-award-winning writing resources website Writing.ie, The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy and the Murder One International Crime Writing Festival. She is Ireland’s leading literary scout. Vanessa conceived and developed the National Emerging Writer Programme for Dublin City of Literature, and was the lead consultant and presenter for WritersWebTV. Vanessa a past Chair of…
