Zoë Marriott

"Every writer should have a Kate!

Zoë Marriott wrote her YA debut The Swan Kingdom when she was twenty-one and went on to write eight further critically acclaimed, award-winning YA novels published in the UK by Walker Books and the USA by Candlewick, translated into German and Polish, and selling more than 140,000 copies worldwide.

Zoë left college to work full-time at seventeen, without completing her A-levels, but in 2019 she returned to education, and after graduating with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing with Distinction, moved on to pursue an interdisciplinary PhD. It is from this research – and Zoë’s lifelong passion for timeslip fiction – that A SUDDEN LIGHT, her debut adult novel, was born. Zoë drew on her own experiences of the struggles of working-class women, of being a late-diagnosed autistic, and of working with foster care leavers, to tell a deeply personal story about mental illness and generational trauma, which celebrates art, poetry and the redemptive power of love.

Zoë lives on the blustery north east coast of England with a manic spaniel and a collection of books expanding faster than the universe.

zoë’S BOOKS

The Hand, the Eye & the Heart, 2019, Walker Books; Barefoot on the Wind, 2016, Walker Books; The Name of the Blade: Frail Human Heart, 2015; The Name of the Blade: Darkness Hidden, 2014, Walker Books; The Name of the Blade: The Night Itself, 2013, Walker Books; FrostFire, Walker Books, 2012; Shadows on the Moon, 2011, Walker Books; Daughter of the Flames, 2008, Walker Books; The Swan Kingdom, Walker Books, 2007.

REVIEWERS

“Just fantastic.”

Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season

“Dark yet fresh.”

Kirkus

“Magnificent world-building and exquisitely formed plot.”

LoveReading

Latest Book

THE WRITER WHO MOST INSPIRED ZoË

As a child, definitely Robin McKinley, whose lush, Feminist fairytale retellings opened my eyes to the extraordinary potential of the written word, and how it could be used to evoke sweeping landscapes, complex feelings, and nuanced relationships. As an adult probably Susanna Kearsley, a much beloved historical novelist whose works gently dip into timeslip, ghost stories and magic realism. I have frequently been reduced to tears in public places by her writing, and will never forget how it felt to read Mariana for the first time.

ZOË ABOUT KATE

The first time I spoke to Kate I was left completely humbled by her love for and understanding of my book. I don’t think anyone other than me has ever cared about something I’ve written quite so much. But the more I get to know her, the more I appreciate this very rare ability she has, as a person, to make you feel incredibly safe and calm and supported, but at the same time boost you up with excitement and enthusiasm. It’s a mixture of really deep knowledge and professional experience, and fierce empathy. I firmly believe Kate is worth her own weight in solid gold (with a few rubies thrown in). Every writer should have a Kate!

KATE ABOUT ZOË

I first met Zoë through her writing and it was love at first sight. Her debut adult novel swept me up in its beguiling, beautiful, gripping arms and didn’t let me go until I had finished it, crying, a changed woman. What a writer! I wanted desperately to meet the woman who had written this stunning novel and to represent her. Luckily for me we hit it off immediately and I fought off five other agents for the privilege of being Zoë’s agent.