About me

I am a creative writer, sound artist and multidisciplinary scholar. I am the author of a novel and two non-fiction books, write articles and reviews, produce immersive audio experiences, and curate events.

I create and produce immersive audio story experiences, often commissioned by organisations seeking to engage new audiences through dynamic storytelling. Recent works include ‘Riverlandia’, commissioned by the National Trust: an immersive sound story told by humans and non-human characters living in a changing river valley, including a fish, a beaver, a tree, a dragonfly and a teenage girl. Voiceovers are narrated by actors including Gemma Whelan and Mike Wozniak. The work was launched with a sound installation at The British Library.

I am the author of three books. The Invisible Crowd (Harper Collins, 2017), my first novel, was inspired my my work in human rights law. It follows Yonas, an Eritrean asylum seeker, after he’s been smuggled into the UK, and a variety of people he encounters on his quest for leave to remain. It was awarded a Victor Turner Prize for ethnographic writing and was a Guardian Readers’ book of the year. Live Literature: The Experience and Cultural Value of Literary Performance Events from Salons to Festivals (Palgrave, May 2021) investigates the rise in live events within literary culture in a digital age, and explores the reasons why audiences value such events and how they experience them, through ethnographic research, and with a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on research from cognitive science and performance studies as well as literary and publishing studies. Saffron Shadows and Salvaged Scripts: Literary Life in Myanmar Under Censorship and in Transition (Columbia University Press, 2015) is the first book to explore literary culture in this fascinating country, and includes interviews with three generations of writers and new translations of their work.

I also write articles and reviews on a variety of subjects, and have been a regular TLS contributor, reviewing fiction, non-fiction and theatre.

I work as a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter, where I teach students from undergrads to MAs and PhDs, and lead courses including the foundational first year module, Write After Reading, and a specialist MA module, Writing for the Planet, exploring literary activism during the climate and ecological crises.

I enjoy leading creative writing workshops, and have taught groups from anthropologists and artists to families, in settings ranging from art galleries to libraries.

Before focusing on writing, I worked as a barrister for seven years, specialising in human rights and environmental and planning law. I have worked on international legal projects in Thailand, Botswana, and Myanmar.

I am a musician, and used to play the flute professionally. My undergraduate degree was in Music at the University of Oxford.

If you would like to get in touch, please do via the contact page or through my agent, Laura Macdougall at United Agents.

Please find me on social @ellenwiles.