Samantha Harvey

Harvey spent her childhood in Ditton, England, before moving frequently after her parents’ divorce, living in places like York, Sheffield, and Japan. She studied philosophy at the University of York and the University of Sheffield, drawn to questions about time and existence that would later shape her fiction. Before turning to writing, she worked in environmental conservation and documentary filmmaking. She earned an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University in 2005, followed by a PhD in the same field. Her first novel, The Wilderness (2009), explored memory loss through the perspective of a man with Alzheimer’s. It was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She followed it with All Is Song (2012) and Dear Thief (2014), both of which examined identity and human connection. In The Western Wind (2018), she set a murder mystery in a medieval village, writing the story in reverse chronological order. Just a few years later, with Orbital (2022), Harvey shifted her focus to space, depicting six astronauts observing Earth from above. In addition to publishing novels, Harvey teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University.