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.

Laura Williams is an agent at Greene & Heaton, joining in 2018 from Peters Fraser & Dunlop. She represents a list of authors across adult fiction, young adult and non-fiction, with a particular interest in literary fiction, thrillers and suspense, horror, love stories, and non-fiction books about mental health. She is actively looking for new authors across genres and enjoys editing and helping writers craft their projects into commercial successes from the early idea stage.

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.'