Lorna Gibb was born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire and has a PhD from Edinburgh University in theoretical phonology.
She is the author of biographies of Lady Hester Stanhope and Dame Rebecca West, a novel and a part memoir, part global exploration of childlessness. In 2013, she won the Granta memoir prize and in 2014 was shortlisted for the Sperber prize for biography in the US. She has written for a wide variety of publications including The TLS, The Times, The Herald, Granta Magazine and The Telegraph. She lectures part time at the University of Hertfordshire where she is the Head of Creative Writing.
Books in order of publication:
Lady Hester: Queen of the East – 2006
The Extraordinary Life of Rebecca West – 2013
A Ghost’s Story – 2015
Childless Voices: Stories of Longing, Loss, Resistance and Choice – 2019
Rare Tongues: The Secret Stories of Hidden Languages – 2025
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