Author | Academic
The hardback edition of The Forest on the Edge of Time arrived – and it’s total magic! I feel so, so lucky to have such a wonderful team behind this book at Tor, thank you for making all my writerly dreams come true!
The Forest on the Edge of Time launches in the US on 3rd February, and in the UK on 12th March – you can pre-order this gorgeous hardback edition now, as they say, in all good bookstores.
I had the most superb time this weekend heading to Kew Royal Botanic Gardens this weekend to speak at the British Mycological Society Autumn Gathering about mushroompunk, a sub-genre of fungal fiction!
Afterwards, I had a delightful tour of the fungarium and got to meet some charming specimens. They’re all tucked away safe in cosy boxes – it’s one of the most extraordinary ‘libraries’ in the world!
Last week, I had the true honour and delight of interviewing the wonderful Sir Michael Morpurgo, an event hosted by The Autumn Festival of Norwich and UEA Live.
We gathered before a full house to listen to Michael speak about the importance of green spaces, reading for pleasure, and poetry… Honestly, one of the best events I’ve ever participated in, what a truly lovely time we had!
Some job news from me today: I’m totally thrilled to be taking up a post at the University of East Anglia (UEA) as a Lecturer in Creative Writing and Digital Technologies! š
It’s been a busy start of term, so this announcement is a little late – but it’s wonderful to be back at the institution where I did my PhD, and teaching Creative Writing which I care about so deeply. ā¤ļø
Huge thanks to all my wonderful new colleagues for being so welcoming – it’s a joy to be working with you all! š
I’m delighted to be at this year’s Worldcon in Seattle – participating in not one, not two but SIX panels, on topics from cover letters to climate fiction – check out my schedule below…
Iāll also be hosting my first ever Table Talk on Sunday – sign up 8am-6pm on Saturday to secure your place: https://virtual.seattlein2025.org/sign-ups
Looking forward to seeing old friends and new – safe journeys to all!
I’m truly honoured to be interviewing Michael Morpurgo as part of this year’s Autumn Festival of Norfolk.
With Norwich Theatre presenting the National Theatreās acclaimed production of War Horse within the same week as Michael Morpurgoās exclusive appearance with the festival, this event gives a rare opportunity to enjoy the company of one of the UKās best-loved authors and storytellers.
The event will be at UEA, 1-2.30pm on Saturday 1st November – get your tickets here.
I had a wonderful time giving the academic keynote – all about mushroompunk literature – at University of Liverpool’s Current Research in Speculative Fiction (CRSF) Conference last week.
I so enjoyed everyone’s papers, and was delighted by how many other people were also talking about fungal fiction.
Huge, huge thanks to the organisers for giving us such a fascinating and fun few days!
I’m so delighted to share the gorgeous book cover for my debut novel The Forest on the Edge of Time. Huge huge thanks to the whole team at Tor Books as always, particularly illustrator Sam GreenĀ and designer Shreya Gupta. I couldn’t have dreamed more beautiful book art!
Recruited by the mysterious Project Kairos to change history and save the future from ecological disaster, Echo and Hazel are transported through time to opposite worlds. Echo works as a healerās assistant in Ancient Athens, embroiled in dangerous politics and wild philosophy. Hazel is the last human alive, in a laboratory on a polluted island with nothing but tiny robots and an untrustworthy AI for company.
Both women suffer from amnesia but when they fall asleep, their consciousnesses transcend time and they meet in their dreams. Together, they start to uncover their past ā but soon discover the past threatens humanityās survival. If Echo and Hazel have a chance of changing the future, they must remember to forgetā¦
The Forest on the Edge of Time is arriving on bookshelves on February 3, 2026 ā preorder now right here!
Incredibly honoured to have been invited as the academic keynote for theĀ Current Research in Speculative Fiction (CRSF) Conference 2025. It’s a really special conference, this year on the theme of ‘Boundaries: trangression, subversion, deconstruction’. If you’re interested in coming along, it’s at University of Liverpool from 3rd-4th July 2025 (hybrid). More info here:Ā https://crsfhome.home.blog/
Very excitingly, my academic article āRadically Hopeful Dystopian Climate Fiction: Exploring Social Dreaming, Temporal Re-Sensitisation, and Katharsis in Jeff VanderMeerāsĀ Borne‘ has been published inĀ Wild Possibilities, a special edition ofĀ Comparative American Studies. It’s open access and therefore free to read, so if you’re interested in how we tell stories about climate change, and the ways we can reinvent our structures of courage, honour, and hope in the age of climate crisis, give it a read right here!
I’m particularly excited that this article is seeing the light of day because it was a chapter of my PhD. Theses don’t always have happy afterlives, so having this article is out in the world for people to read helps make that journey even more meaningful for me. Massive gratitude to the editors and peer reviewers for seeing value in my work.
I couldn’t be more delighted to say that Tor US has signed my debut novelĀ The Forest on the Edge of Time, and it’s due out in February 2026.
Recruited by the mysterious Project Kairos to change history and save the future from ecological disaster, Echo and Hazel are transported through time to opposite worlds. Echo works as a healerās assistant in Ancient Athens, embroiled in dangerous politics and wild philosophy. Hazel is the last human alive, in a laboratory on a polluted island with nothing but tiny robots and an untrustworthy AI for company.
Both women suffer from amnesia but when they fall asleep, their consciousnesses transcend time and they meet in their dreams. Together, they start to uncover their past ā but soon discover the past threatens humanityās survival. If Echo and Hazel have a chance of changing the future, they must remember to forgetā¦
The Forest on the Edge of TimeĀ is a science fiction novel about family and duty and the worlds we try to save along the way.
In a recent interview withĀ Clarkesworld, my amazing editor Lee Harris said,Ā āThe Forest on the Edge of TimeĀ is a terrific debut…Ā Itās a story of climate collapse and time travel, and how one might be utilized to prevent the other. Wonderful human characters, and youāre going to fall in love with the robots!ā Ā Truly,Ā I can’t wait for all of you to meet the Tinys either.
The book is due out in February 2026, less than a year away, and will be followed by my second novel,Ā Pacific Blue. Watch this space…!
This Thursday 31st October, online at 4pm, Iāll be giving the paper Ā āEcological re-sensitisation: revival in Jeff Vandermeerās dystopian climate fiction novelĀ Borne‘ as part of a Green BAAS Roundtable! Itās FREE to registerĀ here.
Fellow speaker Ysabel MuƱoz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) will speak on āIslands of Transition: The speculative and decolonial transecopoetics of Roque Salas Riveraā, while EugĆ©nie ClĆ©ment Picos (Ćcole des Hautes Ćtudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris) will discuss “Food sovereignty and environmental justice on the Navajo Nation”. With Co-Lead for Green BAAS Dr Rebecca TillettĀ chairing!
I’m delighted to be chairing ‘The Edge of Solitude: Climate in Fiction’ at The National Centre for Writing, Norwich, on Thursday 26th September at 6.30-7.30pm.
Weāll be with Katie Hale and Ned Beauman, discussing their wonderful books The Edge of Solitude and Venomous Lumpsucker.
Book your tickets here!
šŖIt”s finally time for Glasgow 2024: A Worldcon for our Futures, and I’m really looking forward to being on not one but two panels:
šæ FRIDAY 9TH AUGUST, 7pm: The Spectrum of Climate Fiction with Su J Sokol, Niall Harrison, Abigail Nussbaum, and Tara Campbell.
āØ SATURDAY 10TH AUGUST, 4pm: Hopepunk – Dystopia or Utopia? with Su J Sokol, Yen Koi, Juliet Kemp, and Mark Sabalauskas.
ā¤ļø See you there!
I’m delighted to have co-authored an article on haiku in the climate crisis for The Conversation UK with fab PhD student Paul Chambers. You can read it for FREE right here!
Haiku are about intense moments of perception, in which āthe vast is perceived in one thingā. But in addressing climate change so little, are English-language haiku really depicting āthe vastā?
This article was partly inspired by the research I undertook during my year as Researcher-in-Residence for The British Haiku Society. If you’d like to know more about that, you can read the resulting paper, ‘Twisting Point’, for free here!
Very excitingly, this week I was signed by literary agent Alexander Cochran at C&W!
Alexander has a superb list of exciting authors from science fiction to fantasy and beyond, and I feel so honoured and humbled to be part of it.
Likewise, C&W is an agency I’ve admired for many years, and I couldn’t have put my writing or my writerly self in safer hands.
Alexander can be reached using the contact info on his agent page – and I have now my own author page on the C&W website here too!
Yesterday, I partook in my very first academic procession, for the graduation of City’s MAs in Publishing, International Publishing, and Publishing and Creative Writing. It was delightful to see all of last years students again, and catch up on their successes and adventures over the past few months. I am immensely proud of them all!
I also got to wear my PhD robes and hat for the first time, which was just as magic and fun as I could have hoped for. As you can tell from the photos, I couldn’t have hoped to do this rite of passage with more supportive and kind colleagues!
I am amazed and delighted and over the moon to say this little human here passed her viva on Wednesday! I am now apparently and officially Dr Jasmin Kirkbride.
Huge, huge thanks to my wonderful examiners Dr Rebecca Tillett from UEA and Dr Ben Smith from Exeter for reading my thesis, having such wonderful insights about my research, and generally giving me such a lovely viva experience.
Thanks too to my long-suffering and ever-supportive supervisors, Prof Andrew Cowan, Dr Nathan Ashman, and Dr Nonia Williams – you are absolute heroes, where would I be without you?!
Finally, thanks to all my friends and family who’ve supported me on this journey and put up with me being absolute stress ball for most of the last four years. I am so, so grateful for your patience and love.
So happy my short story ‘Rail-Song’ has found a lovely home at New Writing, the wonderful online literary magazine of UEA’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing and UEA Publishing Project.
The story follows ex-musician ZoĆ«, whose monotonous relationship sends her seeking solace in the abrasive but alluring song of her commuter trains…
You can read it for free right here – happy reading folks! Xx
