Vanessa Walters, (born 1978, in

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, United Kingdom) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. 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. Educated at

Queen's College, London Queen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18 with an adjoining prep school for girls aged 4–11 located in the City of Westminster, London. Founded in 1848 by theologian and social reformer Frederick Denison Maurice along wit ...

, when discovered by teachers, the journal was passed over to an agent who quickly had her signed to a publishing company with a five-figure book deal even before she'd left. The book, ''Rude Girls'', made her a success, but instead of diving head long into the literary world she continued her studies, progressing to University. 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. Whilst studying law, Vanessa found time to spend a year in

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and continue her writing. ''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 book ''Smoke Othello!'' published 2008 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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. She also performs her poetry. She has also written plays. Her works include ''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 Show'' 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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'', ''

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'' and others including ''

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'' for which she writes a monthly column on topical issues for black women. On May 2nd 2023, her debut novel
The Nigerwife
was published by Atria Books (A Simon and Schuster imprint). The book centers on a young woman who goes missing in Lagos, 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 Amy Aniobi is a Nigerian-American writer and producer. She is the head writer and co-executive producer of '' Insecure'' and was also an executive producer for the HBO special ''2 Dope Queens''. Aniobi signed a two-year overall deal with HBO in 201 ...

is developing an adaptation for the novel which has been optioned for
limited series by HBO

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Vanessa 20th-century English novelists 1978 births Living people People educated at Queen's College, London