Leeds Writing
Festival 2026.

Caroline Bond is an acclaimed British novelist whose emotionally compelling thrillers explore family, identity, and the secrets that shape our lives. She studied English Literature at Oxford before completing an MA in Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University. She is a trained volunteer with Victim Support and serves as Chair of Weekenders, a charity providing social opportunities for disabled children and teenagers. After a successful career in market research alongside raising three children, her work in scriptwriting led ultimately to her writing fiction. Her acclaimed debut novel The Second Child was published in 2018, followed by The Forgotten Sister and The Legacy, amongst others. Writing as Rachel North, her most recent novel Happily Ever After is a psychological thriller. Caroline is represented by Greene & Heaton.

Sally Hart writes psychological thrillers from a medical background — as a day job she works in cardiology in the NHS — and says that it is the why rather than the what of crime which is so fascinating. She won a pitch prize from Bloodhound Books to secure publication of Out of her Mind, a gripping study of memory and obsession, and is currently working on the follow-up.

Roger Webster is a former history teacher with a passion for the Viking era. His first book, Sigurd and the Wyrm, a Viking fantasy aimed at 10–14 year-olds, is being published this spring, with his factual Astris's Viking Yule for 8–10 year-olds to follow, and the first books in his Viking Raiders, Viking Traders series for YA/adults coming later. He describes his interests as 'cricket, family reading and writing, but not always in that order', and he has been known to sample an occasional beer.

Philippa East grew up in Scotland and originally studied Psychology and Philosophy at the University of Oxford. She trained as a Clinical Psychologist and worked in NHS mental health services for over ten years. Her debut novel Little White Lies was longlisted for the Guardian's "Not-The-Booker" prize and shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger for best crime debut of 2020. She has since published three further psychological thrillers — Safe and Sound, I'll Never Tell and A Guilty Secret — with combined sales of over 100,000. Alongside her writing she continues to work as a psychologist and therapist.

Anne Corlett spent sixteen years as a criminal defence solicitor before becoming a full-time writer. She has written for various magazines, newspapers and anthologies and has won or been shortlisted for several awards as a short story writer. She is the author of two novels, The Space Between the Stars (Pan Macmillan) and The Theatre of Glass and Shadows (Bonnier), with her third book scheduled for release in early 2026. She runs online and in-person writing workshops and is currently tutoring on a programme offering US university students a semester of specialist study in the UK.

Emma Tallon is a crime writer with 15 books published and under contract for more. She has been on several panels at a variety of festivals and run 'wine and crime' events online with other authors. When working with schools, Emma talks about the writing process and recently held a table at a literary event for new writers in Milton Keynes, where she gave advice on questions ranging from the structure of the novel to the different paths to publication.

Despite a sad lack of mathematical talent, Jaye worked for the Royal Greenwich Observatory in her youth and thereby acquired her love of science fiction. This led to her eventually publishing two YA Sci-fi books on climate change — The Green Enclave and Keepers of the Sun — with a third in the trilogy to come in 2026. A 'gorgeously atmospheric' cosy mystery is also due out soon. Jaye's blogs on Writing Style appear on Bloomsbury's Writers & Artists website, and she reviews science fiction, YA fiction and crime fiction for Reedsy.

Christie J. Newport is the author of thrillers The Raven's Mark and The Ordinary Man. She won the inaugural Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour and the first of her new series of standalone historical thrillers is due to be published this year by Storm Publishing. Bestselling author Lisa Jewell said The Raven's Mark was 'the most assured crime debut I have ever read.'

Rachel Mann spent ten years editing and commissioning fiction for young people at houses including Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, and was global publishing director at the Roald Dahl Story Company. She became an agent in 2018 and joined CAA in 2023. Rachel represents a large range of work — largely fiction, with some non-fiction — from commercial to literary, in adult, young adult, and middle-grade markets. She gravitates towards the darkly comic and formally inventive, seeking compelling voices and unpatronizing writing. Vivid, complex characters, international settings and radical social commentary will always capture her attention.

Mia joined Greene & Heaton in January 2023, after completing an MA in Publishing at UCL. She works across the agency in fiction, non-fiction and translation, and is now building her list. Mia is particularly interested in fantasy where the world building is incredibly strong and the magical element edges closer to speculative fiction. In romantic fiction she has a soft spot for an enemies-to-lovers trope and any kind of competitive edge, be that in sports, science or finance. She would also love to see crossover romance, especially within horror and crime. In general fiction she is looking for stories that focus on friendship over time and across genre. Mia represents, amongst others, Olivia Hayward (Tailwind), Paula Rogers (Swiped) and Emily Bootle (This Is Not Who I Am).

Daniel is a Middle-Grade author, theatre maker and educator. He has a doctorate in creative writing & education and is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of York. His books include Bea's Witch and The Firebird Chronicles series — Rise of the Shadow Stealers, The Nemesis Charm and Through the Uncrossable Boundary.

Rachel Bower is an award-winning writer based in Sheffield. Her debut novel, It Comes from the River, was published with Bloomsbury in 2025. She is also the author of two poetry collections and a non-fiction book on literary letters. Rachel's poems and stories have been widely published in literary magazines including The White Review, Magma, The Rialto and Stand. She won The London Magazine Short Story Prize 2019/20 and the W&A Short Story Competition 2020, and was awarded second place in the Michael Marks Environmental Poet of the Year 2024. She has also been listed for the White Review Short Story Prize, the RSL V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize and the BBC Short Story Prize, and is currently editing an anthology with Simon Armitage (Faber & Faber).