Words by Polly Hember

Arkbound started out in Bristol, with the aim to build futures and bridge divides in the publishing world. Publishing a community content magazine Vocalise, and with many of Arkbound’s titles written by Bristolians, Bristol will always be close to Arkbound’s heart.

Bristol is a beautiful, diverse and inspiring city. Fostering artists like Damien Hurst and Banksy, Bristol is known for it’s art scene. Celebrating Bristol’s creativity, we’ve got a list of Bristol-grown authors.

JK Rowling

JK Rowling | Medium.com

Born in Yate, just outside of Bristol. She lived just south of a small town called Dursley (sound familiar?). Her Harry Potter books have charmed an entire generation, and continue to spellbound new readers. Inspired by some of her neighbours, she told Newsround that the name Potter came ‘from people who lived down the road from me in Winterbourne […] I liked the surname so I took it, I didn’t take anything else from that family’. She wrote the infamous pages in Edinburgh, and is hailed as one the most successful authors of all time, and surely Bristol’s most famous daughter.

Amanda Prowse

Amanda Prowse | The Daily Mail

At forty, Amanda Prowse became a full time writer and penned Poppy Day, the story of an army wife whose incredible love for her husband gives her courage to rescue him from hostages in Afghanistan. Then came the Number #1 Bestseller What Have I Done? Now she has ten novels and four novellas published. Focusing on contemporary love stories with relatable female protagonists, this Bristol based author is currently working on her new series No Greater Courage.

Nathan Filer

Nathan Filer | Nathan Filer.com

Nathan Filer originally trained and worked as a mental health nurse, then later as a mental health researcher at the University of Bristol. Starting out as a writer, he performed as a stand-up poet and featured at many of the UK’s poetry nights and festivals. His poems have also been broadcast on BBC’s radio 4’s Bespoken Word and Wondermentalist Cabaret. In 2005 his poetry short film Oedipus won the BBC Best New Filmmaker Award and Berlin’s Zebra Poetry Film Award. His debut novel The Shock of the Fall describes the life of a young man with schizophrenia. Published in 2013, it received widespread critical acclaim, winning The Costa Book of the Year, The Betty Trask Prize, The National Book Award for Popular Fiction and The Writer’s Guild Award for Best First Novel. It is a Sunday Times Bestseller and has been translated into thirty different languages.