Toby Litt is a writer, academic and activist based in London. He has published novels, short story collections, non-fiction and poems. His most recent book is A Writer’s Diary (Galley Beggar, 2023) – and his continuation of the diary is one of the most popular writing newsletters on Substack. His novel Patience was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize.
Toby is a Granta Best of Young British Novelist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His story ‘The Retreat’ won the Short Fiction/University of Essex Prize. He is a member of English Pen and editor of the Writers Rebel website. The recent Netflix 8-part series Dead Boy Detectives was based on Toby’s run on the comic of the same name. The ebook of this was the #1 bestselling Comic & Graphic Novel on Amazon. When he is not writing, Toby likes sitting doing nothing.
Toby is Head of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton.
Toby Litt is a writer, academic and activist based in London. He has published novels, short story collections, non-fiction and poems. His most recent book is A Writer’s Diary (Galley Beggar, 2023) – and his continuation of the diary is one of the most popular writing newsletters on Substack. His novel Patience was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize.
Toby is a Granta Best of Young British Novelist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His story ‘The Retreat’ won the Short Fiction/University of Essex Prize. He is a member of English Pen and editor of the Writers Rebel website. The recent Netflix 8-part series Dead Boy Detectives was based on Toby’s run on the comic of the same name. The ebook of this was the #1 bestselling Comic & Graphic Novel on Amazon. When he is not writing, Toby likes sitting doing nothing.
Toby is Head of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton.
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