Claire Askew is a prominent poet, novelist, and the current Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh. She gained recognition with her debut novel, All the Hidden Truths, which was the winner of the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and longlisted for the 2014 Peggy Chapman-Andrews (Bridport) Novel Award. Askew holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh and has received various awards for her work, including the Jessie Kesson Fellowship and a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award.
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\nAskew's debut poetry collection, This changes things, was published by Bloodaxe in 2016 and shortlisted for both the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and a Saltire First Book Award. In 2016, she was chosen as a Scottish Book Trust Reading Champion and has been involved with women's writing initiatives as the Scotland tutor for Write Like A Grrrl! and #GrrrlCon. Raised in the Scottish Borders, Askew moved to Edinburgh in 2004 and became an active member of the literary community, with her poems frequently appearing in numerous publications and anthologies. She also enjoys collecting old typewriters, with a collection of around 30.
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\nAskew is also the author of the Edinburgh-set DI Birch crime fiction series, published by Hodder & Stoughton. The first book, All the Hidden Truths (2018), won the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and the 2019 Bloody Scotland Crime Debut Prize, while being shortlisted for the CWA John Creasy Debut Dagger and the CWA Gold Dagger in 2019. The follow-up, What You Pay For (2019), and the third book, Cover Your Tracks (2020), further solidified her presence in the crime fiction genre. Askew's poetry collections include This changes things (2016) and How to Burn a Woman (2021), both published by Bloodaxe Books, as well as the non-fiction book Novelista: Anyone Can Write a Novel - Yes, Even You (2020) from John Murray. She has also been a Jessie Kesson Fellow, a Hawthornden Fellow, and Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.