Laura Barnett

Laura’s first novel, The Versions of Us (2015) was a number-one bestseller; it has been translated into 24 languages, and was shortlisted for Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards. She’s had four further books out since then: Greatest Hits (2017), which features an accompanying musical soundtrack by Kathryn Williams; Gifts (2021), a novel in short stories; This Beating Heart (2022); and Births, Deaths and Marriages, published in 2025. She delivered a TedX talk on originality in fiction, and worked as a writing mentor for the charity Arts Emergency. She is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and has taught many novel-writing courses for the agency-led writing school Curtis Brown Creative in London and online, as well as co-leading several residential Arvon courses at Totleigh Barton.

Born in south London in 1982, Laura studied Spanish and Italian at Cambridge University and then became an arts journalist and theatre critic, writing regularly for the Guardian, Observer, Daily Telegraph and Time Out London, before turning to fiction. Laura now lives in rural Kent with her husband Andy, son Caleb, cat Eno and Ukrainian rescue dog Emmy.

Photo credit: Chris O’Donovan