Cancelled: Hungry Barbie doll: a conversation with Kit de Waal

In many ways Kit de Waal represents the working class in British contemporary literature. With a background in criminal law and family law she writes about important issues related to contemporary society.

Kit de Waal made her novel debut in 2016 with the book My name is Leon, which was shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year. It is based on her experiences with the fostering and adoption system in the UK. In 2022 she published her memoirs Without Warning & Only Sometimes: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood, which describes growing up in England as the daughter of an immigrant father from the Caribbean and a very religious Irish mother – a childhood marked by poverty and unpredictability.

De Waal has also on several occasions spoken for better representation in the publishing industry, particularly in the 2017 radio programme Where Are All the Working Class Writers?

She has a conversation with journalist and author Katrine Sele.