Zoe's first novel, Folk (Bloomsbury), was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and adapted for BBC Radio (read by the brilliant Samantha Spiro). She has just finished turning some of the chapters from Folk into a libretto, for a song cycle that will have its world premiere in 2023.

Her second novel, Mischief Acts (Bloomsbury), is released in March 2022, and is inspired by the past and future of the Great North Wood, which used to cover a large swathe of South London.

Since completing Mischief Acts, Zoe has moved from London to the Kent coast, which is (not surprisingly) influencing her third novel. It turns out that place - alongside folklore, nature and social history - is a starting point for her writing.

Besides novels, Zoe has been writing short stories for most of her adult life. You can find a few of them in anthologies by Comma Press, and they have also appeared in books and journals worldwide including The Stinging Fly, Mechanics' Institute Review, and the British Fantasy Society Journal. Some of her stories have won prizes, including the Costa Short Story Award.

Zoe is co-founder of London Lit Lab with Lily Dunn, where she teaches creative writing, and the co-editor with Lily of A Wild and Precious Life (Unbound 2021), an anthology of writers in recovery.

Photo credit: Sophie Davidson

Wordsaway Zalon: Unconventional Storytelling

Previous salon: Folkore, Fables and Fairy Tales: enrich your fiction

Find Zoe online: zoegilbert.com & londonlitlab.co.uk

Twitter: @mindandlanguage