Alice Oseman was born in 1994 in Kent, England. She completed a degree in English at Durham University in 2016 and is currently a full-time writer and illustrator. Alice can usually be found staring aimlessly at computer screens, questioning the meaninglessness of existence, or doing anything and everything to avoid getting an office job.

Alice’s first book, SOLITAIRE, was published when she was nineteen. Her second, RADIO SILENCE, was released in early 2016, and her third, I WAS BORN FOR THIS, in 2018.

When I was a teenager, people would describe me as a:

High achiever.

The best/worst thing that happened to you in high school?

The best thing was signing with a literary agent. One of the worst things was being rejected from Cambridge Uni (but I got over it!)

Is there a story from your childhood that is told most often, either by you *or* about you?

Probably the time I hid my parents’ passports in a VHS player and then forgot where I hid them.

Is there a book, besides your own of course, that you think everyone should be reading?

Spinning by Tillie Walden

What can you tell us about Heartstopper?

Here’s the official blurb: 

Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met … until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance.

But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.

Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Can you describe Charlie/Nick in 3 words?

Charlie – determined, stubborn, intelligent

Nick – brave, kind, empathetic

What can we expect from Heartstopper?

In future updates? I’m looking forward to exploring Charlie’s mental health in a little more depth and how that affects his relationship with Nick.

INTERVIEW : YA SH3LF