Authors A-Z

Yulia Yakovleva

Yulia Yakovleva Horst is a columnist and an editor in leading Russian newspapers and magazines and has been an international writer in residence for London's Royal Court Theatre. She lives with her family in Norway. The Raven's Children is her first children novel in Russian. She is studying for an MA in children's illustration in the UK.

Jacqueline Yallop

Jacqueline Yallop is the author of three novels and a history of Victorian collecting. She has a PhD in nineteenth-century literature and culture, and has worked as a museum curator in Manchester and Sheffield. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Aberystwyth.

Irvin D. Yalom

Irvin D. Yalom is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. As well as an award-winning psychiatrist and psychotherapist, he is an extremely prolific author. His many other works include The Gift of Therapy, Staring at the Sun, When Nietzsche Wept, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychiatry, The Schopenhauer Cure, Lying on the Couch, Momma and the Meaning of Life, Existential Psychotherapy, I'm Calling the Police, Inpatient Group Psychotherapy, Every Day Gets a Little Closer and The Spinoza Problem.

Geling Yan

Geling Yan is one of the most acclaimed contemporary novelists and screenwriters in the Chinese language today and a well-established writer in English. Born in Shanghai in 1959, she served with the People’s Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution, starting aged 12 as a dancer in an entertainment troupe. She published her first novel in 1986 and since then has written over 20 books and won over 30 awards. Her works have been translated into twelve languages, several have been adapted for screen, the latest being The Flowers of War, which was filmed by Zhang Yimou and stars Christian Bale. Geling Yan currently divides her time between Berlin and China.

Mo Yan

Mo Yan is the author of various novellas and short stories and numerous novels including Red Sorghum, The Republic of Wine, Big Breasts and Wide Hips, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out and The Garlic Ballads. In 2012 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Soetsu Yanagi

Soetsu Yanagi was a philosopher of aesthetics and religion, and the founding father of the Japanese folk crafts ('mingei') movement. Born in Tokyo in 1889, his interests as a young man lay firmly in the West: he published the anti-Confucian avant-garde literary magazine Shirakaba ("White Birch"), met and befriended the English potter Bernard Leach, and became fascinated with the work of William Blake and Walt Whitman. In 1914 Yanagi married, and from around that time his interests turned from the West to the East, from fine arts to folk crafts. He met and befriended Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai and, together with the Asakawa brothers, established a Korean folk crafts museum in Seoul. He became interested in, and began travelling the country in search of, statues and objects crafted by the Buddhist priest and sculptor Mokujiki. He found himself captivated by the beauty of the utilitarian, everyday objects produced by anonymous, provincial craftsmen that he found while on his travels. In 1925 he gave these hitherto unrecognised works the name mingei, 'folk craft'; in 1936, he opened the Japan Folk Crafts Museum to exhibit them, serving as the museum's first director. Aesthetics, folk crafts and the philosophy of religion continued to fascinate Yanagi throughout his life. In 1957, in acknowledgment of his unremitting dedication of folk crafts, he was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government. He died in1961.

Rick Yancey

Rick Yancey (http://www.rickyancey.com) is the author of several adult novels and the memoir Confessions of a Tax Collector. His first young-adult novel, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal. In 2010, his novel, The Monstrumologist, received Michael L. Printz Honor, and the sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Jules Yap

Jules Yap is the founder of the popular site IKEAhackers.net that showcases IKEA hacks from all over the world. Her website reaches out to millions of IKEA lovers and DIY enthusiasts who take delight in an altered IKEA experience. She believes that IKEA products are blank canvases. One can stamp his or her own creativity and make these mass-manufactured products totally unique. Besides being the self-proclaimed No. 1 IKEA fan, she loves coffee and lives in Malaysia in her almost all-IKEA home. Even after 9 years, she's still going strong on her mission to share the joy of IKEA hacking with the world.

Jane Yardley

Jane Yardley was brought up in Essex in the 1960s. She has a PhD from a London medical school and works on clinical projects around the globe. Her first novel, Painting Ruby Tuesday, (which was written on aeroplanes) was short-listed for the Guilford Arts First Novel Prize. Her other novels are Rainy Day Women, A Saucerful of Secrets and Dancing with Dr Kildare.

Emma Yarlett

Christopher MacGregor (Author) When Army Officer Christopher MacGregor returned from Iraq in 2007, he began writing to help not only his own two children, but the children of others. Having commanded over 100 soldiers (with over 50 children between them) he noticed the beneficial effect of saying proper goodbyes and preparing families for Daddy’s absence - his first book, My Daddy’s Going Away is the heartwarming, helpful, and comforting response. Emma Yarlett (Illustrator) Emma Yarlett likes to paint, draw, collage, design, write, doodle, construct, invent, splatter and sketch. In 2011 she graduated with first class honours in Illustration from University College Falmouth and began her career as a illustrator and author.

Robin Yassin-Kassab

Robin Yassin-Kassab was born in Britain to a Syrian father and English mother. He graduated from Oxford University and travelled extensively, working as a journalist in Pakistan before moving to Oman where he now teaches English.

Louise Yates

Louise’s first book, A Small Surprise, was published by Random House in 2009. Her second, Dog Loves Books, debuted as a New York Times Bestseller and won the Parents’ Choice Award in the US. In the UK Dog Loves Books won the 2010 Roald Dahl Funny Prize and was nominated (along with the more recent Frank and Teddy Make Friends, 2011, and Dog Loves Drawing, 2012) for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Dog Loves Drawing has also been shortlisted for the Red House Children's Award, 2013. Dog Loves Counting was released in the UK in March 2013. Louise is currently working on a new series, Toad and I with Random House and developing the Dog Loves series for TV with Random House Children’s Screen Entertainment. Louise read English at Christ Church, Oxford, and studied drawing at The Prince’s Drawing School, London. As well as illustrating, she practises other forms of painting and drawing, and in 2010, won the Prince of Wales’ Award for Portrait Drawing at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Annual Exhibition. She lives and works in London. ‘Even in a golden age of illustrated children’s books, Louise Yates stands out as a superb artist and storyteller.’ A. N. Wilson

Abby L Yates

Erin Gilbert (Author) Erin Gilbert is a co-founder of the Ghostbusters, an expert on the paranormal and the author of Ghosts from Our Past. Abby L Yates (Author) Abby L Yates co-founded the Ghostbusters with Erin Gilbert. Ghosts from Our Past was her first book, now finally back in print. Andrew Shaffer (Author) Andrew Shaffer is the New York Times-bestselling author of the essential survival guide, How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters, as well as the forthcoming Ghostbusters tie-in, Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal. He's not a scientist. He's more like a game show host. You can find him online at www.andrewshaffer.com.

Frances A Yates

Dame Frances Yates achieved a world-wide reputation as an historian. She was Reader in the History of the Renaissance at the Warburg Institute of the University of London and gained many academic honours. In 1972 she was appointed OBE and in 1977 DBE. Her publications include Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Theatre of the World, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, and Shakespeare's Last Plays. Frances Yates died in 1981.

Sean Yates

Sean Yates is a former professional cyclist and head sporting director at Team Sky. During a highly successful cycling career, he became only the third British rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, which he rode twelve times, before a career in team management beckoned. This culminated in overseeing Bradley Wiggins’ success at both the 2012 Tour de France and the London Olympic Games.

Chris Yates

Chris Yates is an author and photographer but most famously a fisherman. He was first inspired by the discovery of a monster carp in his village pond when he was five. Almost thirty years later, he caught a fifty-one and a half-pound carp – the biggest fish ever caught in England – using a split cane rod at Redmire. He went on to write about his experiences in books, in his own magazine, in radio programmes and in the BBC2 series A Passion for Angling. He lives in south Wiltshire.

Richard Yates

Richard Yates was born in 1926 in New York and lived in California. His prize-winning stories began to appear in 1953 and his first novel, Revolutionary Road, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. He is the author of eight other works, including the novels A Good School, The Easter Parade, and Disturbing the Peace, and two collections of short stories, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness and Liars in Love. He died in 1992.

Lew Yates

Lew Yates is a former unlicensed boxer who has also worked as a nightclub bouncer and civil engineer. He lives in Cambridgeshire. Bernard O'Mahoney is the author of several true-crime books, including the bestselling Essex Boys, Bonded by Blood and Hateland.

Simon Yates

Simon Yates has climbed extensively in the Himalayas and the Andes, and travelled through India, Kazakhstan and Australia. His first book, Against the Wall, was runner-up for the Boardman Tasker Award for mountain literature.

Kieran Yates

Kieran Yates is one of the leading young journalists writing on music and politics. Based in London, she writes regularly for the Guardian, Independent, MTV, and Red Bull Music Academy, and has contributed to the likes of Dazed and Confused, RWD, The Times and many more. She works closely with young people as a journalism mentor, and as a consultant for major and independent record labels, brands, and events. Nikesh Shukla is the author of the Costa First Novel Award-shortlisted novel, Coconut Unlimited ('...a riot of cringeworthy moments made real by Shukla's beautifully observed characters and talent for teen banter.' Metro) and the Channel 4 Comedy Lab Kabadasses, starring Jack Doolan, Josie Long and Shazad Latif. His writing has featured on BBC2, Radio 4, and BBC Asian Network. He has performed at Royal Festival Hall, Book Club Boutique, Soho Theatre, The Big Chill and Latitude. He likes Spider-man comics. A lot.

Reggie Yates

Reggie Yates is an actor, television presenter and documentary maker, best known for his role as Leo Jones in Doctor Who, and for his work at the BBC in radio and television, presenting various shows for BBC Radio 1 as well as hosting The Voice and Release the Hounds. Reggie presents the award-winning documentary series, Extreme UK and The Insider for BBC Three. Extreme UK won Reggie an RTS Award for ‘Best Presenter’, as well as ‘Best Factual Programme’ at Edinburgh TV Festival. In 2014, Reggie wrote and directed the comedy short film, Date Night, which won ‘Best UK Short Film’ at the London Independent Film Festival and has recently completed his latest short film Shelter, presented by BBC Films.

Samar Yazbek

Born in 1970, Samar Yazbek studied literature before beginning her career as a journalist and a scriptwriter for Syrian television and cinema. Her translated work includes the novel, Cinnamon, and A Woman In The Crossfire, her diaries of the first four months of the Syrian uprising, which has won many prizes. She lives in Paris.

Gabriela Ybarra

Gabriela Ybarra was born in Bilbao in 1983. She studied business administration and management, and has a master's degree in marketing from New York University. She currently lives in Madrid, where she works in social network analysis. The Dinner Guest is her first novel.

W B Yeats

William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin on 13 June 1865. He studied to become a painter, like his father, but abandoned that profession in 1886 in favour of literature. He was heavily involved in the movement for an Irish literary revival and founded The Irish Literary Theatre with Lady Gregory, becoming its chief playwright. Yeats' interest in Irish national and traditional myths and imagery can be seen in his early poetry, such as The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889), and he was also influenced by his enduring unrequited love for the young heiress Maude Gonne. In 1913 Yeats met the poet Ezra Pound and from that point his writing begins to move away from the earler Pre-Raphelite style towards modernism. Yeats married Georgie Hyde-Lees in 1917 and with the help of his wife, and informed by his interest in mysticism, he developed a system of 'automatic writing' which profoundly affected the poetry of his later years. Yeats served as a senator of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1928 and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. He died in the south of France in January 1939.