Alice Oseman

Alice May Oseman (born 16 October 1994) is an English author and illustrator of young adult fiction. She secured her first publishing deal at 17 and published her first novel ''Solitaire'' in 2014.

Her novels include ''Radio Silence'', ''I Was Born for This'', and ''Loveless.'' All stand-alone novels in the same extended universe, they focus on contemporary teenage life in the UK and have received praise for their realism, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and portrayal of mental health struggles. She has received several awards for her works including silver Inky Award, a British Book Award, and three Goodreads Choice Awards.

She also writes and illustrates the webcomic and graphic novel series '' Heartstopper'', which has been adapted into a critically acclaimed TV series, earning her a BAFTA TV Award nomination and two Children's and Family Emmy Awards as both a writer and producer. In recognition of her work, Oseman was named to the BBC's 100 Women list in November 2023, and in October 2024 she was named to Time's Time100 Next list.

Early life and education

Alice Oseman was born in Chatham, Kent and grew up in a village near Rochester, Kent with her younger brother, William, and attended Rochester Grammar School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Durham University in 2016.

Career

Debut novel and ''Heartstopper'' webcomic

Oseman wrote her debut novel ''Solitaire'' when she was just 17 and secured a publishing deal for it by the time she was 19. It was published by HarperCollins in 2014 after a bidding war. The book follows the story of Tori Spring, a pessimistic teenager, as she meets Michael Holden, her polar opposite and an unbelievable optimist. They attempt to discover the truth behind the anonymous group 'Solitaire' who commit a series of pranks at their school. Other characters include Tori's brother Charlie, who has a severe eating disorder, and his boyfriend Nick. The novel explores themes such as friendship, depression, eating disorders, and LGBT+ relationships.

''Solitaire'' was praised for its compelling characters and Oseman's young age at the time of publishing, landing her a BBC Breakfast interview on 22 July 2014. Oseman later published two ebook novellas based on characters from ''Solitaire'' – a sequel titled ''Nick and Charlie'' (July 2015) and a prequel titled ''This Winter'' (November 2015).

Upon "falling in love" with the characters of Nick and Charlie, Oseman decided their story needed further exploration and began the ''Heartstopper'' online webcomic series. The episodic comic first appeared online on Tumblr and Tapas in September 2016 and follows Tori's younger brother Charlie through high school as he meets and then begins dating Nick Nelson.

While the comic features some of the same characters and takes place in the same universe and timeline as ''Solitaire'', its tone is notably different. Where Solitaire is a grimly realistic depiction of mental illness and struggle, ''Heartstopper'' provides a more uplifting view of the world and focuses much more on romance.

Coming-of-age novels and critical success

In 2016, Oseman published her second novel, ''Radio Silence''. The novel follows Frances Janvier, a high-achiever whose life revolves around her admission to the University of Cambridge, who meets the shy creator behind her favourite podcast, Aled Last. Themes such as academic pressures and LGBT+ relationships and identities are central to the novel. Oseman noted that Frances' experience in ''Radio Silence'' was similar to her own school pressure and later disillusionment with academia following her education at Durham University.

The novel was praised for its compelling central character and realistic writing style and relatability, as well as for representing characters of various ethnicities, genders, and sexualities. Oseman has frequently commented about the importance of writing diversely and expressed regret over the lack of diversity in ''Solitaire''. ''Radio Silence'' was named one of the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year in 2017 and won the 2017 Silver Inky Award for young adult literature.

Oseman's third book, ''I Was Born for This'', was published in May 2018. It follows the story of Angel Rahimi and Jimmy Kaga-Ricci who are, respectively, a massive fan and the lead singer of boy band The Ark. The book explores Fandom culture, obsession, and identity alongside Oseman's trademark depictions of teenage friendship, sexuality and gender, and mental illness. It was nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction Book in both the Goodreads Choice Awards and The Bookseller Awards.

To celebrate the release of her third novel, Oseman's previous two novels and her two novellas all received new, matching covers, designed by Oseman.

In July 2020, Oseman published her fourth young adult novel ''Loveless''. ''Loveless'' tells the story of 18-year-old Georgia Warr as she begins her first year as a student at Durham University and who, despite being an avid fan fiction writer and lover of romance movies, has never kissed anyone or had a crush before. In addition to Georgia's personal journey of self-discovery as she realises she is aromantic and asexual, the book also discusses sexuality, identity, and discrimination within the LGBT community, as well as the effect of abusive relationships.

While not an autobiographical book, Oseman has said that ''Loveless'' draws a lot from her own experiences growing up and discovering asexuality. She also emphasised the importance of writing a book centered around platonic love, stating that she "wanted to craft a story that had the structure of a romance but was about a friendship."

''Loveless'' received positive critical reception from literary reviewers and media outlets, with many praising the novel's treatment of asexuality and its intersectional and diverse depiction of sexuality. Jonny Yates of ''PinkNews'' wrote that the novel is "perhaps one of the most notable and popular books with aromantic characters" and Ani Bundel of '' Paste'' expressed how asexuality in novels is "a rare thing still, and the burgeoning world of LGBTQ+ love stories needs more of them." The novel received the YA Book Prize in 2021, and was nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction Book in the Goodreads Choice Awards.

Osemanverse timeline

All of Oseman's novels take place in the same universe and many of the same characters re-appear in later works. ''Solitaire'' focuses mainly on Tori Spring, but her younger brother Charlie and his boyfriend Nick Nelson both feature heavily. They are then the main focus of ''Nick and Charlie'' as well as ''Heartstopper'' while ''This Winter'' features all three. Similarly, Aled Last first appears as a supporting character in ''Heartstopper'' as one of Charlie's close friends before becoming one of the two main protagonists of ''Radio Silence''.

While the official timeline is ambiguous, ''Radio Silence'' is set roughly two years after the events of ''Solitaire'', ''I Was Born for This'' takes places around four years after that, and the events of ''Loveless'' occur around a year further on from that. The ''Heartstopper'' comics begin about a year prior to ''Solitaire'' but eventually catch up to and continue past it. The ''Nick and Charlie'' novella is the last chronologically in terms of Charlie and Tori's story, taking place about a year before ''Radio Silence'' begins.

''Heartstopper'' graphic novels

Oseman is also the author and illustrator of the webcomic '' Heartstopper'', which follows the romantic relationship between Charlie Spring (brother of Tori Spring) and Nick Nelson, both of whom are characters featured in ''Solitaire'' as well as its spin-off novellas ''Nick and Charlie'' and ''This Winter'' (both published by HarperCollins Children's Books in 2020)''.''

Published online since 2016, the comics have been hosted via Webtoon since August 2019. There are currently 7 chapters available in full online, with the eighth, and final, chapter currently being released. In October 2018, Hachette Children's Group acquired the rights to physical publishing of the first two volumes of ''Heartstopper'', and by January 2019, the third and fourth volumes. Volume one ''(including Chapters 1 and 2)'' was published in October 2018, volume two ''(Chapter 3)'' in July 2019, volume three ''(Chapter 4)'' in February 2020, volume four ''(Chapters 5 and 6)'' in May 2021, and volume five ''(Chapter 7)'' in December 2023. A sixth and final volume including chapter 8 and an epilogue has been announced and is expected to be published in late 2025.

TV adaptation

See-Saw Films optioned the television rights to ''Heartstopper'' in 2019. On 20 January 2021, it was revealed that a live-action television adaptation of ''Heartstopper'' was ordered to series by Netflix, with Oseman writing the script and Euros Lyn directing. Patrick Walters of See-Saw Films serves as executive producer. Kit Connor and Joe Locke star as Nick and Charlie respectively. It premiered on 22 April 2022, to critical acclaim with the first season receiving nine nominations and five wins, including Outstanding Young Teen Series, at the inaugural ceremony of the Children's and Family Emmy Awards. Oseman appears in a brief cameo in episode eight of season one.

On 20 May 2022, Netflix announced that the series was being recommissioned for a second and third season. Following the release of the series, the first volume of the ''Heartstopper'' graphic novel became the top-selling children's bestseller in the UK.

The show's second season was released on 3 August 2023 and received high praise for tackling more serious issues while maintaining the optimistic feel of the first season. Season 3 was released on 3 October 2024 and was similarly praised for further developing the show's themes and for its nuanced and respectful discussion of mental health and relationship struggles.

Personal life

While promoting ''Loveless'', Oseman opened up about being aromantic and asexual. Oseman uses she/her and they/them pronouns. Oseman announced that she was going on hiatus from ''Heartstopper'' in 2022 due to stress and mental health issues. The series returned in April 2023.

In July 2024, Oseman received an honorary degree from the University of Kent at a Rochester Cathedral graduation ceremony for Doctors of Letters and Arts.

Bibliography

Oseman's body of work is set within a cohesive fictional universe. For instance, the characters Nick and Charlie initially debut in Oseman's novel, ''Solitaire'', and reappear in various works, most prominently in the ''Nick and Charlie'' novella and the ''Heartstopper'' graphic novels. This shared narrative universe has been informally termed the "Osemanverse" by some fans and even adopted by certain retailers.

Awards and nominations

In November 2023, Oseman was named to the BBC's 100 Women list. In October 2024, she was named to Time's Time100 Next list as an Artist.

Book awards

Television awards

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oseman, Alice
1994 births
21st-century English LGBTQ people
21st-century English women writers
Alumni of St John's College, Durham
Aromantic women
Asexual women
British child writers
English women television writers
British writers of young adult literature
Children's and Family Emmy Award winners
English graphic novelists
English LGBTQ writers
English screenwriters
English webcomic creators
Living people
People educated at Rochester Grammar School
People from Chatham, Kent
Aromantic writers
Asexual writers
Women screenwriters