Tara Isabella Burton

Tara Isabella Burton is an acclaimed writer whose work spans fiction, nonfiction, and journalism, with a focus on religion, culture, and travel. Her debut novel, "Social Creature," was published in 2018 by Doubleday in the US and Bloomsbury/Raven in the UK, later translated into nine languages. She has also contributed fiction to publications such as The New Yorker's Daily Shouts, Tor.com, and Shimmer, while her nonfiction essays and reporting have appeared in National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and The Economist's 1843, among others. Burton received The Spectator's Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize for travel writing and a Lowell Thomas Award for her journalistic work.

Burton holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Clarendon Scholar at Trinity College. Her academic background informs her writing, particularly her exploration of religion, spirituality, and subcultures. This is evident in her nonfiction book, "Strange Rites: Cults and Subcultures After the Death of God," published by Public Affairs in 2019. As a staff writer and religion correspondent for Vox, she continues to examine contemporary faith movements and cultural shifts.

Dividing her time between New York City and Tbilisi, Georgia, Burton maintains a dynamic career blending journalism, fiction, and scholarly research. Her work reflects a deep engagement with themes of belief, identity, and place, shaped by her extensive travels and academic expertise.