Christopher Wakling

Christopher Wakling’s seven acclaimed novels include Escape and Evasion (Faber), a tragicomedy about a rogue banker’s Copernican change of heart; What I Did (John Murray), the story of a social-services investigation from the point of view of a six-year-old boy at its centre; and The Devil’s Mask (Faber), an historical crime novel set in the aftermath of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. As well as his adult fiction, Christopher has co-authored a trilogy of adventure stories for younger readers. He’s also published short stories, and his travel journalism regularly features in the national press.

Before he began writing full-time in 2001, Christopher worked as a litigator for a city law firm, and before that he worked as a farm hand and teacher. He studied English literature at Oxford University.

As well as his work as an RLF Fellow, Christopher has taught creative writing in many different contexts, including literary festivals, UK and US universities, the Faber Academy, and the Arvon Foundation, for whom he has led more than 50 week-long residential courses.  He is now the lead tutor and creative consultant at Curtis Brown Creative, the writing school run by the London literary agency, Curtis Brown. Christopher is currently writing a novel about a family imploding, dementia, and the housing crisis: LEAH.