Deborah Jenkins

Deborah Jenkins is the author of Braver (2022) and Winter Lights (2023).

Deborah is a freelance writer and primary teacher who has worked in schools in the UK and abroad. Her novel Braver, published with Fairlight Books in June 2022, was shortlisted for the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Best First Novel Award and the Society of Authors ADCI Literary Prize. Her short story collection Winter Lights is publishing with Fairlight Books in November 2023. She has written several educational textbooks, as well as articles for the TES online and Guardian Weekend, among other publications. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies, and she has also published a novella, The Evenness of Things. She lives in Sussex and enjoys reading, walking, gardening, travel and good coffee.

A short Q&A with Deborah Jenkins can be read below:

How did you start writing and what does writing mean to you?

I’ve written on and off since I was a child, but started writing seriously in my thirties when my youngest started school. I wrote some short stories but didn’t know if they were any good, so I paid to have them assessed by a writing agency. The lady said she really liked them, and, in her opinion, I would be able to write a novel. Shortly after that, I had one of the stories accepted for publication, so I took up her challenge and started a novel.

Writing is a kind of lifeblood for me. I think it’s how I process the world. Once or twice, after rejections from agents or publishers, I’ve tried to not-write, but it didn’t last. It made me unhappy.

Did you always want to be a writer?  

Yes. Ever since the age of eight or nine, I’ve wanted to publish a ‘chapter book’. I was an avid reader, a lonely, awkward child and books were my friends. In the stories I read, I discovered others who also felt ‘out of place’ somehow. I began to write my own stories and teachers seemed to like them, so I decided that’s what I wanted to do.

What’s your favourite book and who is your favourite author?

There are so many, and they change all the time! My current favourite is All my Mothers, by Joanna Glen. She is a favourite author because she explores the fragile nature of friendship and community so beautifully. I also love Maggie O’Farrell, Rachel Joyce, Libby Page and Frederik Backman. I was over the moon when someone recently said my writing reminds her of his.

Read our full interview with Deborah about Braver (along with an exclusive extract) here.