14 Facts About Leone Ross

Leone Ross FRSL was born on 26 June 1969 and is a British novelist, short story writer, editor, journalist and academic, who is of Jamaican and Scottish ancestry.

When she was six years old, Ross migrated with her mother to Jamaica, where she was raised and educated.

In 2000, Leone Ross was a recipient of a London Arts Board Writers Award.

Leone Ross has represented the British Council in the United States, South Korea, Slovakia, Romania, Sweden, and across the UK.

In September 2004, Leone Ross was chosen as one of 50 Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature, appearing in the historic "A Great Day in London" photograph taken at the British Library.

Leone Ross held the post of Arts Editor at The Voice newspaper, Women's Editor at the New Nation newspaper, and was transitional Editor for Pride magazine in the UK.

Leone Ross held the position of Deputy Editor at Sibyl, a feminist magazine.

Leone Ross has freelanced for The Independent on Sunday and The Guardian, as well as for London Weekend Television and the BBC.

Leone Ross writes novels and short stories in speculative fiction, erotica, and Caribbean fiction genres.

Leone Ross has judged the Spread the Word London Short Story Prize with agent Emma Paterson, the V S Pritchett Award with novelist Candice Carty-Williams and Philip Hensher, the Mslexia Short Fiction award with novelist Sunny Singh, and for several years, the Wimbledon Bookfest Competition.

Leone Ross is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby, and the 2020 anthology Outsiders edited by Alice Slater.

Leone Ross has worked at Cardiff University, Trinity College Dublin, the City Literary Institute and the Arvon Foundation, and was Senior Lecturer in the Creative Writing department at Roehampton University in London, where she was Anthology Editor for their micro-publishing house, Fincham Press.

Leone Ross is a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

In 2023, Leone Ross was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.