Jess Popplewell grew up in the beautiful, medieval city of York, which probably had some influence on her long-standing fascination with the Gothic. She holds a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Lancaster University, and a Creative Writing MA from York St John University.

Following several years of writing creepy short stories for competitions and charity anthologies, Jess was awarded the Chairman’s Choice Prize in the 2022 Times/Chicken House competition for her first novel, a YA fantasy adventure called All Hell.

Outside of writing, Jess is a Careers Consultant in Higher Education and spends much of her free time on space-consuming hobbies like weaving and book binding in the confines of the small flat she shares with her partner in South London.