Vanessa Walters (born 1978, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom) is an English

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. She is also a commentator and critic. She is best known as the teenage novelist discovered to be writing a novel as a hobby to share with her school friends while she was being educated at

Queen's College, London Queen's College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls aged 11–18 with an adjoining prep school for girls aged 4–11 located in the City of Westminster, London. It was founded in 1848 by theologian and social ...

. When discovered by teachers, the text was passed over to a literary agent, who quickly had Walters signed to a publishing company with a five-figure book deal even before she had left school. The book, ''Rude Girls'', made her a success, but instead of diving headlong into the literary world she continued her studies, progressing to studying law at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. About ''Rude Girls'', she said: "It was a book I really wanted to read, which didn't exist." ''Rude Girls'' was acclaimed as an accurate portrayal of life in the North London Black community—it was a huge success straight across the board. While studying law, Walters found time to spend a year in

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, France, and continue her writing. Her book ''The Best Things in Life'' was published in 1998 and explored the lives of young Black women struggling to balance friendship, work and relationships. Her 2008 book ''Smoke Othello!'' is a collection of poems, short stories and plays about black experience in West London, born out of her time as the Writer in Residence for the

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. Walters also performs her poetry, and she has written plays, with her works including ''Too Hot to Handle'', ''Cold World'', ''Caribbean Kitchen'', ''Double Take'', ''Changes'' and ''Michael X'', produced by various English theater companies. Her commentary has also appeared on the guardian.co.uk website. Her reviews have been broadcast on

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's '' Front Row'', as well as

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(Television), ''

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'',

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(''The Cinema Show'') and

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. Her articles have been published in ''

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'', ''

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'', '' The Voice'' and other outlets, including ''

Pride Magazine ''Pride Magazine'' (styled in covers as ''PRIDE'') is a magazine that focuses on black women in the United Kingdom. It has been on publication since 1991. The magazine has a circulation of more than 30,000 copies per month. In 2012, the magazine ...

'', for which she writes a monthly column on topical issues for black women. On 2 May 2023, her debut novel, '' The Nigerwife'' was published by

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(A Simon and Schuster imprint). The book centers on a young woman who goes missing in

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, Nigeria, and her estranged auntie who will stop at nothing to find the truth. ''The Nigerwife'' was selected as the ''

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''s May Book Club Pick. Amy Aniobi is developing an adaptation for the novel which has been optioned for a limited series by HBO.

References

External links

Official website
Lance Cleland,
"Vanessa Walters"
Tin House. {{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Vanessa 20th-century English novelists 1978 births Living people People educated at Queen's College, London Alumni of University College London Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws