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Lizzie Huxley-Jones

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Lizzie Huxley-Jones
OccupationEditor, author
Website
lizziehuxleyjones.com

Lizzie Huxley-Jones is a Welsh editor and author of children's literature. They are an advocate for the representation of disability in literature, and the author of the Welsh mythology-inspired Vivi Conway novels (2023–2024), among other works.

Early life

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Huxley-Jones grew up in Rhuddlan, North Wales.[1] They attended a local Rhuddlan primary school and then went to secondary school in Abergele.[2]

Career

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Before their writing career, Huxley-Jones worked in charities and as a bookseller. Through the latter job, they re-ignited a past interest in writing.[1] Huxley-Jones was editorial and communications director of the indie publisher 3 of Cups Press, founded in 2017 with the intent to address "galling inequality".[3]

In 2022, Hodder & Stoughton acquired the publishing rights to Huxley-Jones' holiday-themed romantic comedy novel Make You Mine This Christmas.[4] Huxley-Jones intended to explore a romance between lead characters who are neurodivergent, queer, and disabled, and also reflect Huxley-Jones's own personal experiences.[5]

Huxley-Jones' Welsh mythology-inspired middle grade novel, Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend, was published by Knights Of in 2023.[6][7] The novel garnered significant critical attention, appearing on the shortlists for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in the Younger Readers category,[7] the Adrien Prize (for children's stories with a disabled main characters),[8] and the English-language Tir na n-Og Award for children's literature from Wales.[9] The novel was also on the longlist for the Branford Boase Award.[10] Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and Huxley-Jones announced in 2023 that they were writing a young adult romance novel, Hits Different, in which a deaf woman pursues her dream of becoming a dancer.[11][12] Hot Key Books later acquired the rights to the novel,[11] which was released the following year.[13]

In addition to their literary work, Huxley-Jones has worked as a sensitivity reader and spoken in the press about the representation of disability in literature.[14][15]

Personal life

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Huxley-Jones is non-binary.[16][15] They grew up while Section 28 forbade "promotion of homosexuality" in schools of the United Kingdom, with the law having been repealed when they were 14 years old. As of result, they have been passionate about including queer characters in their work.[15] They have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and have spoken about the representation of characters with disabilities, such as EDS, in literature.[5]

After being diagnosed with autism, Huxley-Jones' research into the diagnosis led them to discover "big gaps" in autism representation within some genres of literature.[1]

Bibliography

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Non-fiction

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  • Huxley-Jones, Lizzie (2020). Sir David Attenborough: A Life Story. Scholastic.
  • — (2020). Stim: An Autistic Anthology. Unbound.
  • — (2021). "Dismantling Judgment". In Bourne, Shakirah; Levy, Dana Alison (eds.). Allies: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again. Dorling Kindersley.

Fiction

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Interview: Author Lizzie Huxley-Jones on writing Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend, and the importance of representation". Enable Magazine. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Meet the Author: Lizzie Huxley-Jones" (PDF). Book Council of Wales. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  3. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha (31 July 2017). "New indie launches to tackle 'galling inequality'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  4. ^ Brown, Lauren (22 June 2022). "Hodder snaps up queer festive rom-com from Huxley-Jones". The Bookseller. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b Blue, Rosario (14 October 2022). "Lizzie Huxley-Jones on their début and representing their experience with EDS". The Bookseller. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  6. ^ Comerford, Ruth (12 September 2022). "Knights Of spears Huxley-Jones' Welsh-myth inspired series". The Bookseller. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2024: Shortlist announced". Newsround. CBBC. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Bailey, Huxley-Jones, Agbabi and Leeds shortlisted for Adrien Prize". The Bookseller. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  9. ^ Spanoudi, Melina (15 March 2024). "Lesley Parr, Lizzie Huxley-Jones and Michelle Briscombe shortlisted for Tir na n-Og Awards". The Bookseller. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  10. ^ Wood, Heloise (24 January 2024). "Lizzie Huxley-Jones and Lex Croucher longlisted for Branford Boase award". The Bookseller. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Hot Key Books bags 'Love Island' contestant and disability campaigner Ghouri's novel". The Bookseller. 21 September 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  12. ^ Rowlands, Eve (22 September 2023). "Love Island's Tasha Ghouri's 'super special' new venture". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Tasha Ghouri Addresses Her Dance Background After Strictly Come Dancing Announcement". Grazia. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  14. ^ Webster, Lucy (18 May 2022). "Changing the narrative on disability: is representation in books getting better?". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  15. ^ a b c "Interview between Jenna Adams (she/her) and Lizzie (Hux) Huxley-Jones (they/them)". The Book Network. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  16. ^ Haynes, Suyin (15 September 2020). "Trans and Non-Binary Authors Respond to J.K. Rowling's New Novel". Time. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
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