About the Authors
Sara Barnard lives in Brighton and does all her best writing on trains. She loves books, book people and book things. She has been writing ever since she was too small to reach the “on” switch on the family Amstrad computer. She gets her love of words from her dad, who made sure she always had books to read and introduced her to the wonders of secondhand book shops at a young age. Her debut novel, Beautiful Broken Things, was selected for Zoella’s Book Club and her third book, Goodbye Perfect, won the YA Book Prize in 2019. Sara is inspired by what-ifs and people. She thinks sad books are good for the soul and happy books lift the heart. She hopes to write lots of books that do both.
Sue Wallman is the daughter of a psychiatrist and grew up with an interest in human behaviour as well as a love for writing. She worked for a newspaper in Paris, and magazines in London before becoming a school librarian. Now she writes and does writing-related events full-time. She won The Woman’s Prize for Fiction First Chapter Award in 2013 and went on to win many other awards for her Young Adult thrillers, the first of which, Lying About Last Summer, was selected for the WHSmith/Zoella book club. Her seventh book, Every Word A Lie, was published in May 2023.
Irish writer Triona Campbell began her professional career producing television for young audiences. She is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated producer and the creator of Gamer Mode, a TV series about video games. Triona was also an EU Ambassador for female entrepreneurs. Her passion for storytelling led her into writing. She is a graduate of the M.Phil. in creative writing at Trinity College. Triona’s debut young adult series, A Game Of Life Or Death, was acquired in a three-book deal by Scholastic UK in auction. Described as Ready Player One meets Black Mirror, A Game of Life or Death is a contemporary thriller with a high-stakes speculative twist and was published in February 2023. Triona is represented by the Marianne Gunn O’Connor Literary Agency and for TV/film by Michelle Kroes at CAA.
About Their Books:
Title: WHERE THE LIGHT GOES
Author: Sara Barnard
Pitch: Where the Light Goes is the story of Emmy, who has just lost her extremely famous and much loved older sister Beth to suicide.
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Title: EVERY WORD A LIE
Author: Sue Wallman
Pitch: When Amy and Stan decide to get revenge on their friend with a catfishing prank, it goes badly wrong and everything spirals out of control
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Title: A GAME OF LIFE OR DEATH
Author: Triona Campbell
Pitch: Ready Player 1 meets Hunger Games. Asha’s search for revenge following her sister’s death leads her to infiltrate a video games company with a deadly secret.
Find on Goodreads.
What do you love most about writing for the YA audience?
Sara Barnard: They are passionate readers in a way that is unique to that age group. The books you love as a teenager become a part of the fabric of your life; they are the stories that make you who you are.
Sue Wallman: Often I think writing for young people is no different from writing for adults– it’s just the age of the protagonists, not having so much graphic content, and perhaps being more plot focused. The YA audience is usually very passionate about certain subjects – from climate change, racism, LGBTQ+ rights to the latest TikTok dance – and don’t hold back from telling you what they think and I love that.
Triona Campbell: YA readers. They’re willing to take characters into their hearts and be passionate about them. I love how diverse the space is and how strong the first-person narrative can be for a reader. It’s probably very corny – but it feels like an honour to be part of the community writing YA right now.
How has writing YA changed your perspective on the world?
Sarah Barnard: I think I probably actively try to engage more with what teenagers are interested in and excited by in a way I maybe wouldn’t if I had simply left that period of life behind as an adult. The world has changed so much in such a short period of time, which can be frightening in a lot of ways, so I think seeing it through the perspective of YA helps a little with that.
Sue Wallman: As a secondary school librarian I’ve seen first-hand the challenges that face students. Young people want – now more than ever – to make some sort of sense of the chaos and difficulty of everyday life. They crave great plots that feel relevant to them, authentic characters and satisfying endings. Life is massively different to how it was when I was a teenager, particularly in terms of social media, but the intense emotions are still the same and I tap into those when I write, and by putting myself in the shoes of my protagonists I see their world clearly – the anxieties and insecurities, and the hopes and dreams. I understand how there is more variety around what a relationship might look like, for example, or how much anxiety there is about the future, the appetite for living large after the restrictions of the pandemic or the way they are happy to open up the mental health conversation. This means I’m often looking at the world through a different lens to most people my age.
Triona Campbell: Yes. I’m a lot more hopeful. That comes from writing and reading current YA books. For me, YA is about finding your place in the world, your own tribe. Finding acceptance, making friends. Seeing people relate and explore that through YA – it is amazing and of course, it changes how you view the world.
What trends are you most excited about in UKYA at the moment and to come?
Sara Barnard: I am simply excited that there continue to be trends in UKYA! All of them and more.
Sue Wallman: I love that there are more joyful LGBTQ+ books being published at the moment. I really enjoyed ALL ABOUT ROMAN(CE) by Daniel Tawse and GAY CLUB by Simon James Green.
Triona Campbell: High School is Murder, Teen Tech’s , and of course, ‘Once Upon a Time’ with a twist Are all trends I currently can’t get enough of.
What do you think is special about UKYA? (Books and/or community)
Sara Barnard: I think UKYA as a whole has a voice that is unique to us, regardless of genre or topic or theme. You can always tell it’s a UKYA book, and that’s a great thing. It’s something we can all be proud of.
Sue Wallman: Each country and culture needs their own books! UKYA is about the British teen experience and all that entails, good and bad, with our own brand of humour. I’m really proud to be part of the community.
Triona Campbell: UKYA is gritty and brave, with a side of very British humour, which I love. I think we are in a golden age of UKYA with Irish and UK writers starting to reach the point where they can take on the US in terms of books that offer MORE (and are full of heart).
#UKYASpotlight 
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