Nicola Garrard
Nicola is a First Story Writer in Residence, the director of BookFest YA, teacher and author. Her debut novel, 29 Locks (HopeRoad, 2021), was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and the Mslexia Children’s Novel competition, longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2022, picked by Suzi Feay (Financial Times) for their ‘Best Books of 2021’, and is a Big City Reads 2026 title, chosen by Nottingham City of Literature’s youth panel. The sequel, 21 Miles (HopeRoad, 2023) was described by Carnegie medalist, Anthony McGowan as ‘One of the very best pieces of fiction to come out of the refugee crisis.’Her latest novel, On the Edge (Old Barn Books, August 2025) was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2026 and is an EmpathyLab Read for Empathy Collection 2026 choice. It tackles youth, class and radical protest against the backdrop of the coastal-rural housing crisis. Her fiction is driven by a commitment to social justice, youth empowerment and giving voice to the unheard. Nicola was a shortlisted author in the National Literacy Trust's Ruth Rendell Award 2026, a prize which honours authors who have significantly influenced and championed literacy in the past year. She has been a poetry judge on the Shelley Memorial Poetry Prize, a teacher judge for the UKLA Book Awards, and is a judge on the Lucy Cavendish Florence Staniforth Student Fiction Prize.Nicola lives in West Sussex with her wife, three children and Little Bear, a Jack Russell terrier.
Please get in touch for details about Nicola's school and festival events; we're always happy to hear about new opportunities to get her out in front of your students!