Sally O’Reilly is a writer and journalist. Her historical novel Dark Aemilia, published by Myriad Editions/Picador US, draws on the life of Aemilia Lanyer, one of the first women to be published professionally in England and possibly the Dark Lady who inspired Shakespeare’s later sonnets. Dark Aemilia was nominated for the Kirkus Reviews Fiction prize in the US and the Italian translation was shortlisted for the Premio Letteraria prize and was a Finalist for the Premio Vino del Terriccio award.

Her historical fiction focuses on untold stories in history, women on the margins and the role of myth and imagination in our understanding of the natural world. She also writes about the role of creativity in tackling the climate crisis.

Sally is a Cosmopolitan new journalist of the year, and her short stories have been published in the UK, Australia and South Africa, and shortlisted for prizes including the Cosmopolitan and Ian St James award.

She has also worked as a creative writing lecturer for The Open University, Brunel University and the University of Portsmouth, and she has an MA (Distinction) and a PhD in Creative Writing, both from Brunel University.