Nicola Garrard
Nicola Garrard is an English teacher, schools festival programmer at Chichester BookFest and Shoreham WordFest, a First Story Writer in Residence and YA author. Her debut novel, 29 Locks (HopeRoad, 2021), was shortlisted in the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition and longlisted in the Branford Boase Award, and was followed by a critically acclaimed sequel, 21 Miles (HopeRoad, 2023).
Her latest YA/Crossover novel, On the Edge (Old Barn Books, 2025) was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and selected for the EmpathyLab’s Read for Empathy Collection 2026. 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 lives in West Sussex with her wife, three children and Little Bear, a Jack Russell terrier. She is shortlisted for the Ruth Rendell Award 2026, a prize which honours authors who have signficantly influenced and championed literacy in the past year.
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!