Helen Taylor has enjoyed a varied career of teaching, writing, publishing and literary festival curating and directorship. She knows only too well the ups and downs of getting published (or not) and will share with the audience her experiences and some advice on finding good contacts, getting into print, working with different kinds of publishers, and promoting your work in a competitive field. She describes the reception she’s had to her academic and popular books, and why she decided to write a memoir about being childless by choice.

Helen Taylor has published many books on women’s writing, American southern culture and women fiction readers.  She is best known for her Scarlett’s Women: Gone With the Wind and its Female Fans, The Daphne du Maurier Companion, and Why Women Read Fiction. Her most recent book is a memoir and cultural study, Childless by Choice: The Meaning & Legacy of a Childfree Life. She has curated and directed many literature festivals. The first director of the Liverpool Literary Festival, she was a founder member of Bristol’s Clifton LitFest. She is Emeritus Professor of English, The University of Exeter.