On today’s show I have the wonderful special guest Anna Zoe Quirke. Anna is a queer and autistic author, librarian, and freelance writer from the North of England. They’ve written books, scripts, poetry (and much more).

Their novel ‘Something to be Proud of’ won the Northern Writers’ Award for Debut YA Fiction in 2022, was shortlisted for the PFD Queer Fiction Prize, was published with Little Tiger in June 2024, and was nominated for a Carnegie Award in 2025. Their most recent book ‘ Sad Girl Hours’ was published in September this year.

In her freelance work, Anna writes about mental health, disability, neurodivergence, and LGBTQ+ topics for various charities and organisations such as Kooth, the UK’s largest digital mental health service.

They’re at their happiest writing stories about chaotic queer and disabled people finding and claiming their place in the world.

Anna's Links:

• Anna's website
• Buy Anna's Books
• Instagram
• TikTok

My 21andsensory links: 

• @21andsensory on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instagram.com/21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• @21andsensory on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.tiktok.com/@21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 21andsensory on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.youtube.com/c/21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Work with me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://21andsensory.wordpress.com/working-with-me⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 21andsensory Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://21andsensory.wordpress.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• @21andsensory on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/21andsensory⁠⁠⁠⁠
• @21andsensory on BlueSky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/21andsensory.bsky.social⁠