E.L. Norry

Emma Norry is a rising star as a writer with a particular interest in exploring difficult issues and complex characters in a realistic contemporary and accessible style. She says: 'Finding reading a challenge shouldn't deter anyone from enjoying a good story. I believe that stories are how we make sense of the world; they are an essential part of who we are and what makes us human.'

The first book in her new series, Fablehouse was published in 2023 by Bloomsbury as a super lead title for its enchanting blend of adventure, heartache, and a touch of magic. The tale revolves around Heather, a young girl who finds herself in the mysterious Fablehouse, an ancient mansion where ‘brown babies’ live in foster care. Fablehouse feels strange and magical to Heather, and these suspicions are quickly confirmed when Palamedes, the Black knight from King Arthur's court tells her of a great danger. Harnessing the unique talents bestowed upon them, Heather and her friends courageously battle to save Fablehouse and all the children who have sought solace within its walls. The sequel, Fablehouse: Heart of Fire will be published in Spring 2024.

Emma has a BA (Hons) in Film and an MA in Screenwriting and her short stories for adults have been placed in various competitions (Rhys Davis Award, West Sussex Writers), anthologies (NFFD, Reflex Press), as well as shortlisted for the Fish Short Story Award and longlisted for the S1 Leeds Literary Prize. Most recently she was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards in the children’s category, for her book Son of the Circus (Scholastic, 2019) a middle grade novel based on the son of Pablo Fanque, the first black circus proprietor in Victorian Britain.

Emma wrote her first YA manuscript Bury the Things You Cannot Hide which draws on her personal experiences as a mixed-race child and teenager growing up in the care system in Cardiff, Wales. Emma was commissioned to write two short stories as part of the Homecoming anthology in celebration of VE day, published in April 2020. She has also written for Penguin’s Extraordinary Lives series, chronicling the life of Nelson Mandela (Penguin, 2020) as well as capturing the life of footballer Lionel Messi for Scholastic's Football Legends series. Emma’s middle grade fiction title about a teenage spy – Amber Undercover, (OUP) published April 2021.

Emma's work will be included in the anthology collection Happy Here, published by Knights Of in August 2021 as well as in the collection, The Place For Me: Stories of the Windrush Generation (Scholastic, June 2021) which features 12 stories inspired by the people of the Windrush generation, drawn from the Black Cultural Archives.

In 2022 E.L. Norry has been involved in scriptwriting for Eastenders and working with Alison Hammond on her book Black in Time with Puffin, which published in June.

E. L. Norry lives and works in Bournemouth, working as an wellbeing coach and safeguarding officer, inspired by her two young children.