Lauren

Francis-Sharma

Award-Winning Novelist

Bestselling Author

Travels from: Washington, DC

“Lauren Francis-Sharma has written one of those thrilling novels—so valuable and welcome—that adds (or better say restores) another strand to our national narrative. We’re all the richer for Book of the Little Axe.” — Peter Ho Davies, author of The Fortunes

Lauren Francis-Sharma is the author of both Book of the Little Axe, the 2020 American Library Association’s “Libraries Transform Book Pick” and finalist for the Hurston/Wright Award in Fiction, as well as her 2014 debut novel, ‘Til the Well Runs Dry, which was chosen as an O, The Oprah Magazine Summer Reading Pick and awarded the Honor Fiction Prize by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Both of Lauren’s novels are available in Italian.

Lauren is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan Law School, and The MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She is a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times and is a contributor to the anthology, Us Against Alzheimer’s. Some of her work can be found at ElectricLit, Literary Hub, Salon, Aster(ix) Journal, Barrelhouse, and The Lily.

Lauren serves on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, as the current Awards Chair. She is a MacDowell Fellow, and is also the Assistant Director of Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference at Middlebury College. Her third novel, Casualties of Truth, based on her time in Johannesburg at the Truth and Reconciliation’s Amnesty Hearings will be launched in February 2025. Lauren, raised in Baltimore, now lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Lauren's Featured Titles

Craft Lecture: A Writer's Life with Secondary Characters

Through my own journey from lawyer to writer, I will show you how important secondary characters are to our personal lives and in telling the best stories.

One Writer's Journey from Law to Literature featuring a Stephen King Cameo

I was a lawyer at a big Manhattan law firm until one night after being berated by a client, I found myself crying in the stacks of a bookstore, where my life would change forever.

Casualties of Truth: A Near-Thirty-Year-Journey of Making A Novel

Back in 1997, while interning at a law firm in Johannesburg, I was witness to a week of testimonies being held by the Truth And Reconciliation Commission’s Amnesty Committee. Even as a young woman, I knew what I was seeing would fundamentally change the way I saw the world. But once back in America, I didn’t know how to tell the story of what I had witnessed. Then, almost thirty years later I stumbled upon the box that contained all the keepsakes from those months of interning and inspiration struck.

"Historical Fiction"—A Misnomer? Why You Shouldn't Turn Up Your Nose...

Historical fiction means different things to different people and there seems no one way to define it. This confusion can make readers turn away. Is this a true story? Is this based on a true story? Is this entirely fiction set in the past?
Inspired by Hilary Mantel, I will share my approach to writing historical fiction with my novel Book of the Little Axe as the primary text.

Making Way for Artistry in the Midst of Mommy Madness

I began writing my first novel when my children were ages two and four. I had quit my job two years earlier and was losing my mind at home with my children. Barely able to sleep, I found a way to start writing again. Through this talk, I hope to help you find your way back to your artist self.

Literary Citizenship for Writers, inspirations from Bread Loaf

When we first begin writing, how do we become good literary citizens so that people will be most willing to give to us when we need it?

Literary Citizenship for Readers, inspirations from Bread Loaf

Do you think you’re a good reader? A good literary citizen? Have you ever thought about your role in protecting and supporting literary art? In this lecture, I will help you see how important your role is in the life cycle of this thing we call literature.

“…as universally touching as it is original,” — The New York Times

“A savory, sensuous, and seductive novel steeped in the full and pungent flavor of life on the island” — Elle Magazine

“Lauren Francis-Sharma’s talent shines with this rich, solid debut. Book club recommended.” — USA Today

“Francis-Sharma…draws you in and the feeling evoked stays with you long after you put it down” — Bookreporter

“Francis-Sharma’s breathtaking novel…is the story of one woman’s journey of womanhood and discernment not to be missed” — The Network Journal

“In this masterly epic, the pleasure lies in piecing everything together” — Publisher’s Weekly

Media Q&A Link

Lauren’s Other Writings Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

2015 Winner of Honor Fiction Award by Black Caucus of American Library Association
2020 American Library Association’s “Libraries Transform Pick”
2020 Booklist Editor’s Choice
2020 Finalist for Hurston/Wright Award in Fiction
2014 Finalist for William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
2014 Power List of Bestselling African-American books
2014, O, The Oprah Magazine 10 Titles to Pick Up Now

Media clips

The Washington Post | I thought the pandemic would give my kids a break from the reality of being black in America. I was wrong.

Datebook | Review: Huckleberry who? In ‘James,’ Big Jim takes center stage in extraordinary retelling

Booklist | Book of the Little Axe

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.