With a large number of authors now going online to engage with their readers, there are many authors who have managed to successfully build up online communities around their books and their worlds. Considering Britain’s outstanding contribution to literature over the years, it is worth connecting with some of these British authors and see how they tick. This article takes a look at 30 top British authors to follow on Twitter.
1. Adam Foulds
Born in London, Adam Foulds is a versatile writer who has also written narrative poetry (The Broken Word), for which he has won several awards, such as the 2008 Costa Book Awards for Poetry. His other works include titles such as The Truth About These Strange Times. Adam tweets about theatre plays, books, politics, and social issues.
2. Cat Clarke
Cat Clarke is an author in the young adult genre. She has an upcoming works called The Lost and the Found, and on Twitter she posts about what she is up to throughout the day, and about other authors and their books. She also shares about her titles, posts her interviews and invites her followers to book events she’ll be attending.
3. C.J. Skuse
With novels such as Pretty Bad Things and Dead Romantic under her belt, C.J. Skuse on Twitter tweets and retweets articles by other writers about writing and publishing, shares about her books and about titles due to be released by fellow authors. C.J. also shares her views on the writing process on Twitter.
4. Charlotte Mendelson
Charlotte Mendelson’s novels show the clashes within families and she has won the Somerset Maugham award for her books. Her books are known for exploring lesbian themes. On Twitter, Charlotte talks about books, literary events, politics, and women’s rights.
5. Clare Wigfall
Clare Wigfall’s strong point is her ability to write short stories, which have even won her awards. Music and travel have the greatest influence on her books and stories. She tweets about literary events, writing advice, culture, travel, and of course, books! She also updates information about her workshops for those interested in joining.
6. Evie Wyld
An outspoken critic of sexism within the literary world, Evie Wyld is a British-Australian who has won both British and Australian awards for her books. Her books depict Australia in all its facets and she does not shy away from showing violence in her books. She tweets about books and literary events, but most of her tweets are about lighthearted everyday stuff.
7. Frances Hardinge
Famous for her black hat, Frances Hardinge is an award winning writer of children’s novels. She writes fantasy and historical fiction, and has even tried her hand at a murder mystery aimed at adults. Her Twitter feed is a hodgepodge of history, old houses, books, and random fun trivia.
8. Jenni Fagan
Award winning writer of The Panopticon, a book about a girl who grew up under the care of the State, Jenni Fagan has also written poetry. She talks about culture, books and art on Twitter and gives us a few glimpses of her personal life as well.
9. Joanne Harris
The author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris chooses delightful settings for her books. She deals with the concept of change in her novels and about those opposed to change. Her books often contain strong female characters. She tweets about all kinds of interesting observations, fantasy elements, writing, and social issues.
10. Joe Dunthorne
Joe Dunthorne writes about children, teenagers, families and relationships. He tweets hilarious tidbits, talks about his book events, explores his books with his readers and gives book recommendations of his favorite authors. He also posts about social issues and politics occasionally.
11. Joss Stirling
With books such as Stung, Misty Falls and Finding Sky under her belt, Joss Stirling maintains an active Twitter account. Follow her and gain some tips in writing, find out about her book releases and interviews with different publications, along with posts about competitions you can enter to win copies of Joss’s works.
12. Katie Fforde
A romance author who has written several modern romance books, Katie Fforde is known for her hands-on approach to research. She mostly shares about her own personal life on Twitter and gives us an insight into her writing methods. She also tweets about books she finds interesting as well as about literary events.
13. Linda Grant
Linda Grant has written both fiction and non-fiction. Her non-fiction includes a memoir of her mother’s fight against dementia called Remind Me Who I Am, Again, while her fiction includes works such as Upstairs at the Party. Her Twitter feed includes books, politics, current affairs and snippets of her personal life.
14. Louise Welsh
A talented author writing psychological thrillers, Louise Welsh also writes short stories and plays, and can even add writing a libretto for an opera to her list of experience. Her tweets are mostly about the local news from Glasgow, literary events, books, and random fun retweets.
15. Malorie Blackman
A former Children’s Laureate and author of the famous Noughts & Crosses series, Malorie Blackman tweets and retweets about her support of community projects, gives updates on her attendance at particular events and shares photos of them. Malorie also shares occasional posts about things she is up to throughout the day.
16. Mark Haddon
A multi-award winning author whose works include the famous mystery book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon tweets and retweets various things such as stories on politics, photos of things he finds interesting, interviews with people in the creative sector, and updates on activities he is up to such as books he is reading.
17. Matt Haig
Matt Haig writes about families and fantasy. In his book Reasons to Stay Alive, he explores his own brush with depression. On Twitter, he discusses social issues close to his heart and writing. He also sometimes tweets to share about author events in which he participates.
18. Melvin Burgess
A popular children’s author who has written several books dealing with teenage issues, Melvin Burgess has won several awards for his works. He tweets about his books and also shares about books in general. In addition, he posts up nature pictures, which can brighten up anyone’s day!
19. Michael Rosen
An outspoken critic of the education system and supporter of more education funding, Michael Rosen is a children’s author. He has won awards for his works, including the Children’s Laureate award, and his latest book is called Uncle Gobb and the Dread Shed. Michael tweets about children’s education and children’s books.
20. Nadifa Mohamed
A Somalia-born British author, Nadifa Mohamed writes books based heavily in Africa, especially her country of origin. She has represented Somalia in literary events and has won awards for her work. She tweets about her books, the issues faced by immigrants, and about current events in Somalia and Africa.
21. Philip Hensher
A Professor of Creative Writing, Philip Hensher writes epics about ordinary people. His works include novels such as The Emperor Waltz. Born in South London, he was designated in the top 100 influential LGBT people in Britain. He tweets about gay rights, books, paintings, and politics.
22. Rachel Ward
Author of the Numbers trilogy, Rachel Ward is a writer of books for young adults. Rachel posts beautiful photos of the outdoors, about opportunities to apply for community grants for people to develop their skills, and links to articles by other writers. She also helps to promote books by fellow authors on Twitter.
23. Sarah Pinborough
Sarah Pinborough is a horror fiction writer and has a number of books in the genre to her credit. Her writing has been compared to the bigwigs of horror and she has won a few awards for her works. She also writes fairytale fantasies. She tweets about books, politics and women’s rights.
24. Scarlett Thomas
A writer of comtemporary fiction, and author of works such as PopCo, and the upcoming The Seed Collectors, Scarlett Thomas is an outspoken critic of the capitalist system and has won a couple of awards for her books. She mostly tweets about books and her personal life and experiences of daily life.
25. Sophie Kinsella
Madeleine Wickham, under the pen name of Sophie Kinsella, is one of Britain’s most beloved writers of fiction featuring women in major roles. Her famous Shopaholic series has even been made into a film. She tweets about her author events, her books, and books in general.
26. Stephen Fry
Famously known as a national treasure, Stephen Fry is an actor, director, humanist, and gay rights activist, and above all, an author. He writes books on different issues and has often taken inspiration from his life experiences or historical and current events for his books. He tweets about current affairs, international politics and social issues as well as culture and nature.
27. Stuart Clark
An astronomer and journalist by profession, Stuart Clark has written books on astronomy for the general public. The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth Trilogy and The Sun Kings are his most famous works. He tweets about space, science, scientists, and of course, astronomy.
28. Tim Lebbon
Tim Lebbon writes horrors and thrillers with a bit of fantasy thrown in for good measure. Recipient of many prestigious awards, his stories have also been made into movies. Tim tweets about a variety of things he finds interesting, and also about his books.
29. Will Self
Will Self writes fiction, non-fiction and short stories. His stories often explore the dark themes of mental issues, drug problems and psychiatry. His Twitter feed is about his articles, books, politics, social issues and general items of interest.
30. Yrsa Daley-Ward
Yrsa Daley-Ward is a writer and poet and explores the themes of deprivation, depression, racism and mental illnesses in her works. She mostly tweets about movies, plays and book events. She also updates about her writing workshops.
Image credit: Jurgen Appelo on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_20141217_101736441.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Kavitha is a freelance content writer and French translator, and has been working in this field since 2008. She has degrees in computer applications and international business and has a background in business and international trade. She enjoys learning languages and is currently learning Japanese. Her interests vary from books and writing to travelling and history.[/author_info] [/author]