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Jem is the author of two novels, Courting Shadows (Sceptre, 2002; translated into German, Polish and Spanish) and Rifling Paradise (Sceptre, 2006; translated into German), as well as a collection of poetry, Brought to Light (Bloodaxe, 2001), and editor of a volume in the six-volume Edward Thomas: Prose Writings (OUP, 2018). He has won prizes in major poetry competitions including first prize in both the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 1995 and the Peterloo Poets Open Poetry Competition in 2001. He is co-author, with Sarah Burton, of The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write, Cambridge University Press, 2022).
From 1993 to 2003 Jem was University Lecturer in Literature with Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education and a fellow of Kellogg College. From 2003 to 2012 he was Professor of Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University, and is now Emeritus Professor. He is Director of Academic Programmes for the Oxford Literary Festival. He teaches the writing of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Sarah's publications are diverse, including two critically acclaimed biographies, Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar (Penguin, 2000; translated into Korean, Japanese, Czech and Spanish) and A Double Life: a Biography of Charles and Mary Lamb (Penguin, 2003, shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year award); a children’s book, The Miracle in Bethlehem: A Storyteller’s Tale (Floris, 2008); a page-to-stage guide, How to Put on a Community Play (Aurora, 2011); and a spoof, The Complete and Utter History of the World By Samuel Stewart, Aged 9 (Short Books, 2013). Her most recent book is a historical novel, The Strange Adventures of H (Legend, 2020). She has also written for radio and the stage. She is co-author, with Jem Poster, of The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write, Cambridge University Press, 2022).
Sarah has been teaching creative writing since 1995 in contexts as diverse as mental health units, primary schools, literary festivals and universities. She teaches a variety of courses for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education. She teaches the writing of fiction (including children’s fiction), non-fiction, and writing for performance.
'I can't imagine there are any better books on the subject than this one.'
'Reading The Book You Need… is like getting useful advice from your own personal mentor, one who is wise, experienced, encouraging, and delighted to share their encyclopedic knowledge of literary craft. For anyone who wants to be a better writer - listen carefully. The authors know what they're talking about.'
'Whether you are a beginner or an advanced fiction writer, this book is an essential companion. From getting started to navigating the publishing industry and all that falls between, The Book You Need… examines the key concepts necessary to write your own novel with practical, insightful and expert advice.'
'Years of teaching expertise condensed into one of the most comprehensive journeys through the craft that I've seen. This book teaches in the most natural way, guiding you under the surface of a wide range of good writing, deep into the practical processes that bring it to life.'
'A terrific guide to becoming a better writer and embarking upon a publishing career. Burton and Poster have created a masterclass in print - comprehensive, authentic, clear, and insightful. A pleasure to read and to learn from, this handbook is a must-have for anyone who loves and practices the writing craft.'
'For any novelist, published or aspiring, this smart and concise book will become a true and trusted mentor and friend.'
'The best art of fiction book I've read in a long time, structured around close readings of novel extracts and offering lots of very wise, sound advice. Highly readable and never prescriptive, it's a book to be enjoyed and savoured. I love the chapter on beginnings and endings and the extremely useful one on research. This IS the book you need to become a better writer.'
'If great openings are meant to make the reader turn the page, let's just say I turned it – and kept on feverishly turning to the very end. Jem Poster's first novel is as intelligent, daring and profound as it is highly, bewitchingly readable ... As a psychological thriller, it's as close to wonderful as anything I've recently read. But Poster's biggest achievement is that he creates a young male voice of such unnerving complexity and moral turmoil. Stannard is a stunning creation – awkward, difficult, dangerously self-deluding and, ultimately, someone who moves you to inspect your own damaged soul.’
'Poster's beautifully honed and deliciously creepy fiction evokes Victorian England in all its glory ... both a spooky psychological thriller and an unnervingly intimate story of hubris. ’
'He writes beautifully, with rustic setting and period circumstances vividly described.'
'One of the best first novels I've read for a long time ... Poster mixes together the familiar ingredients with a subtlety that is rare in contemporary writing.'
'Satisfyingly creepy ... beautifully written, full of precision and intensity.'
'A novel of lasting images and conversations ... an impressive debut.'
‘A stylish, assured and thoughtful narrative.’
‘A terrifying journey into the dark recesses of the human soul ... his evocation of the [Australian] flora and fauna is inspiring.’
‘A narrative so vivid that you can almost smell the eucalyptus ... an engaging tale, full of intrigue, emotion and individual realisation.’
‘Jem Poster works rich veins of love and loss. His poetry is lit up by sensuousness, realism, and a bold, wide-ranging intelligence. There’s plenty of art, but never any pretension. These poems speak directly to the human heart, and offer a deepening pleasure with every reading.’
'Sarah Burton writes clearly and purposefully, pulling together a multitude of examples of people who were simply not prepared to be themselves ... This is a wonderful subject, cleverly presented. '
'This is a delightful book, crisply written, well-researched, common-sensical in approach and perceptive in attitude. '
‘Sarah Burton has picked herself a plum of a subject. The Lambs must be the last interesting members of the Romantic circle to have escaped attention… The story of the Lambs, well-researched and perceptively told here, is not one of great events, beyond that shocking act of matricide … Sarah Burton has done a splendid job in bringing the Lambs to life, with all their quirks, caprices and tenderness.’
‘Burton’s great achievement in this excellent biography is to make you care about two people whose names are all but forgotten now. Shining through her meticulous research is a sense that she feels deeply for the Lambs and wants to make her readers understand why they should too. And yet there is nothing hectoring or sensationalist about this book. Warm, witty and wise, it is everything the Lambs themselves would have loved.’
‘Laughing and crying both together are what Elia’s essays and the Lambs’ life invoke, and it’s a merit of Burton’s book that what could be a deeply depressing story keeps turning into comedy. She tells a well-organised, lively and interesting story and there is plenty of wonderful writing to be found in it.’
‘ “They are the World, one to the other,” wrote a friend, and one of the most successful aspects of Burton’s dual biography is the wise and perceptive way in which she deals with the workings of their siblinghood … the book is full of fascinating revelations and hypotheses, which are the product of deep research and close empathy.’
‘Admirably researched and lucidly written, her work’s strength lies in allowing its soulful subjects to speak for themselves.’
An Amazon bestseller; longlisted for the Guardian ‘Not the Booker’ award; shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award; Audiobook Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.
