Anna Beer

Anna Beer’s writing is driven by her fascination with untold stories; her love of journeys (whether of the mind, body or soul); and her sheer enjoyment of words. Anna made the move from strictly academic publications to popular biography with Bess: The Life of Lady Ralegh, Wife to Sir Walter and then, while continuing to produce research-led scholarly articles and study guides, went on to publish a number of further biographies of major literary figures, John Milton and William Shakespeare among them.

Anna’s particular interest as a nonfiction writer is the relationship between creativity and gender, a concern central to her Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music, shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Creative Communication award (2017). The book continues to generate work and conversations with musicians and cultural organisations, and it also, in some ways, led to Eve Bites Back: An Alternative History of English Literature, which explores five centuries of female authorship. Both Sounds and Eve were written to entertain but also to encourage debate and cultural change, and these goals lie at the heart of Anna’s life as an author.

Having spent many years researching and lecturing within the university sector, Anna is now a full-time writer. She is based in Oxford, but travels (preferably by slow train or with a roof tent attached to a sturdy vehicle) whenever she can, grabbing her laptop and notebooks and getting the words down while discovering new parts of the world.