Sally O’Reilly grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and now lives with her family in Sheffield. En route, she’s spent time in Brixton, Brighton and Barcelona. Her short stories have been published in the UK, Australia and South Africa, and she has been shortlisted for the Cosmopolitan short story prize and the Ian St James award. She has an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Brunel University, and has worked as a senior lecturer for the University of Portsmouth and The Open University. Her journalism has been published in the Guardian, Sunday Times and New Scientist. Sally is an Honorary Associate of The Open University and Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Aston University. Sally has published two contemporary novels (as Sam O’Reilly) with Michael Joseph/Penguin. Her historical novel Dark Aemilia (Myriad Editions/Picador US) was nominated for the Kirkus prize. How to be a Writer, her guide to making a living as an author, is published by Piatkus/Little,Brown. Hagtale, her latest novel, is a dark fairy story inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Scribe UK, November 2025). She is represented by Joanna Swainson of Hardman Swainson.