Kit de Waal was born in Birmingham to an Irish mother, who was a childminder and foster carer and a Caribbean father.
She worked for fifteen years in criminal and family law, was a magistrate for several years and sits on adoption panels. She used to advise Social Services on the care of foster children, and has written training manuals on adoption, foster care and judgecraft for members of the judiciary.
Her writing has received numerous awards including the Bridport Flash Fiction Prize 2014 and 2015 and the SI Leeds Literary Reader's Choice Prize 2014 and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year.
MY NAME IS LEON, her first novel was published in 2016.
She has two children.
Projects
- My Name is LeonMaureen feeds and looks after them. She has wild red hair and mutters swearwords under her breath when she thinks they can't hear. She claims everything will be okay. But will they ever see their mother again? Who are the couple who secretly visit Jake? Between the street violence and the street parties, Leon must find a way to reunite his family... 'Startlingly funny. Balances the gritty with the feel good' Observer 'Vivid and endearing - a very powerful book' Emma Healey, bestselling author of
- Common People: An Anthology of Working Class WritersCommon People will be a collection of essays, poems and pieces of personal memoir, bringing together sixteen well-known writers from working class backgrounds with an equal number of brand new as-yet-unpublished writers from all over the UK. These new writers will be selected by the regional writing development agencies, who will support and mentor them in the run-up to publication. Too often, working class writers find that the hurdles they have to leap are higher and harder to cross than for w
- The Trick to TimeA heart-wrenching love story from the internationally bestselling author of My Name Is Leon. Mona is a young Irish girl in the big city, with the thrill of a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding house. On her first night out in 1970s Birmingham, she meets William, a charming Irish boy with an easy smile and an open face. They embark upon a passionate affair, a whirlwind marriage - before a sudden tragedy tears them apart. Decades later, Mona pieces together the memories of the years
Projects credited in
- This International Women’s Day 2019, meet 100 trailblazers redefining the creative industryDiscover our 2020 list here This International Women’s Day, we’ve launched our latest ‘10x10’ – asking 10 influential industry icons to each nominate 10 trailblazing women and non-binary people who they believe are redefining the creator landscape. The result? An incredible list of 100 trailblazers inspiring change. Our list will be accompanied by a takeover on The Dots – look out for brilliant profiles and projects on the platform as we aim to inspire, as important as ever when considering ‘88165
Skills
- Author
- Novel Writing