Rozie Kelly is a novelist based in West Yorkshire. After reading English Literature and Creative Writing she moved to Hebden Bridge, where she works for the Arvon Foundation, hosting creative writing courses.

She has been shortlisted and longlisted for a number of prizes, including the PFD Queer Fiction Prize, a Northern Writer’s Award, and the Writing East Midlands Short Story Award. She was one of eight participants in the inaugural Prototype Development Programme 2024. She is the host of the twice monthly iglu sauna book club, which was featured on BBC Breakfast and in The Times. Her debut novel Kingfisher (Saraband, 2025) won the 2024 NorthBound Book Award and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026.

Website: roziekelly.com

Instagram: @rozeamee

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction

‘A taut, lyrical, and emotionally intense novel that explores love, trauma and all-consuming obsession… I found it a mesmerising read.’ – Julia Gillard, 2026 Chair of Judges, Women’s Prize for Fiction

‘A gentle and compassionate novel that explores the nuances of queer love and friendship.’ – Derek Owusu, The Guardian

‘Kelly writes the messiness of power dynamics well. . . She has a shrewd eye for complexity.’ – The Telegraph

‘A tenderly written meditation on art, love and life that’s as much about the search for self as for connection.’ – Marie Claire, Editor’s Pick