Dr. Ashley Hickson-Lovence is an award-winning novelist, poet, literary critic and Lecturer in Creative Writing.

While working as a secondary school English teacher, Ashley completed an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing at City, University of London before going on to complete a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia. He has lectured in English and Creative Writing at Brunel University, Arts University Bournemouth, the University of East Anglia and the University of Suffolk, and has also worked with First Story, Arvon and Faber Academy.

Ashley has extensive experience appearing on television, radio and at literary festivals across the UK. He regularly reviews books for BBC Radio 4, Notts TV Book Club and The Observer.

His debut novel, The 392, was published by OWN IT! in 2019. His second novel, Your Show, based on the life and career of former Black football referee Uriah Rennie, was published by Faber in 2022. Wild East followed with Penguin in 2024 and won the overall East Anglian Book Award in 2024 and the YA Diverse Book Award in 2025. His fourth novel, About to Fall Apart, was published by Faber in 2026. His poetry collection Why I Am Not a Bus Driver was shortlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize, and his forthcoming YA verse novel Dead Ends will be published in 2027.

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