Author Penny Pepper sporting bright pink hair.

Penny Pepper

Author Penny Pepper sporting bright pink hair.

Penny Pepper

Award-winning author, poet & disabled activist

Award-winning author, poet & disabled activist

A genre-defying writer focused on identity, difference and what makes us human, Penny writes stories we haven’t heard, making others see life differently, with provocation, humour and wisdom. She is passionate that disabled women are heard.

A genre-defying writer focused on identity, difference and what makes us human, Penny writes stories we haven’t heard, making others see life differently, with provocation, humour and wisdom. She is passionate that disabled women are heard.

Located in Hastings, UK

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Penny's Work

About Penny

Home Life

My home is in St Leonard’s on Sea, part of lively creative Hastings, on the sunny Sussex coast.

Written Work

My career as a writer has been long and colourful – if irregular – due to the enormity of the barriers disabled creatives face. I’m proud and passionate about inclusion, and to have been involved in the disability arts/rights movement from its earliest blossoming. My passion is my work: my writing, from my fiction and poetry to my monthly column and journalism, explores the disability narrative through provocation and humour. My memoir, First in The World Somewhere, was published in 2017; my poetry collection, Come Home Alive, in 2018 and my collection of short fiction, Desires Reborn, in 2024. Other work features in anthologies including Elemental (2024), Hemingway Shorts Volume 6  (2021), Mslexia (2025), and outlets such as The Guardian, Huff Post and Aurora Metro. Besides my monthly column for Byline Times, I recently finished my latest novel and, in September 2025, feature as a lead poet in Poet Town, the first anthology of Hastings-area poets of the last 200 years. My work is looked after by my agent, Abi Fellows of DHH Literary, and my champions include Sunday Times best-selling novelist Jake Arnott,  ground-breaking actor Liz Carr and literary heavyweight Dame Margaret Drabble.

Performances

I’m a spoken word performer, having appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Festival Hall and the international festival of WOMAD.

Appearances

I have appeared on Sky News, BBC Newsnight, Five Live, Woman’s Hour, the Victoria Derbyshire Show, BBC Breakfast - and many more. I've also appeared on many podcasts.

Home Life

My home is in St Leonard’s on Sea, part of lively creative Hastings, on the sunny Sussex coast.

Written Work

My career as a writer has been long and colourful – if irregular – due to the enormity of the barriers disabled creatives face. I’m proud and passionate about inclusion, and to have been involved in the disability arts/rights movement from its earliest blossoming. My passion is my work: my writing, from my fiction and poetry to my monthly column and journalism, explores the disability narrative through provocation and humour. My memoir, First in The World Somewhere, was published in 2017; my poetry collection, Come Home Alive, in 2018 and my collection of short fiction, Desires Reborn, in 2024. Other work features in anthologies including Elemental (2024), Hemingway Shorts Volume 6  (2021), Mslexia (2025), and outlets such as The Guardian, Huff Post and Aurora Metro. Besides my monthly column for Byline Times, I recently finished my latest novel and, in September 2025, feature as a lead poet in Poet Town, the first anthology of Hastings-area poets of the last 200 years. My work is looked after by my agent, Abi Fellows of DHH Literary, and my champions include Sunday Times best-selling novelist Jake Arnott,  ground-breaking actor Liz Carr and literary heavyweight Dame Margaret Drabble.

Performances

I’m a spoken word performer, having appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Festival Hall and the international festival of WOMAD.

Appearances

I have appeared on Sky News, BBC Newsnight, Five Live, Woman’s Hour, the Victoria Derbyshire Show, BBC Breakfast - and many more. I've also appeared on many podcasts.

Penny Pepper, in an elegant black dress, is on a stage. She's lit with dramatic pink and blue theatre-style lighting, and she's reading from an iPad attached to her wheelchair. The arms of the wheelchair are decorated with tinsel. In the background is bright green banan tree. Penny is wearing silver high heels that shine brightly against her black outfit and the dark, moody atmosphere of the stage.
Penny Pepper looks to the camera with a cheeky smile. She has bright pink hair, with a matching hairband and lipstick. She wears cats-eye-shaped clear plastic glasses.

Photo Credit: JJ Waller

Penny Pepper sports a big, wide smile, sitting in a wheelchair, holding a copy of her book Come Home Alive. the book cover is bright yellow. She's wearing two long necklaces or red and white beads and has a bright pink cardigan on.

Photo Credit: Maxine Silver

Portrait photo of Penny Pepper with a beaming smile, bright pink hair with a flower tucked into it, and wearing a large necklace pendant shaped like a pair of glasses that matches the shape of the glasses she wears.

Photo Credit: JJ Waller

Penny Pepper is in her wheelchair on an outdoor stage. She's wearing light colours and stands out against the background. The stage is decorated with signs that read The Hip Yak Poetry Shack at Womad.

Critical Praise

“A force of nature and a voice like no other… brilliantly funny, brilliantly frank and brilliantly political.”

Liz Carr

Award-Winning Actor/Activist

“A force of nature and a voice like no other… brilliantly funny, brilliantly frank and brilliantly political.”

Liz Carr

Award-Winning Actor/Activist

Author Penny Pepper sporting bright pink hair.

Penny Pepper

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Contact

Penny is represented by

Abi Fellows at DHH Literary.

To collaborate with Penny, for bookings, and for commercial enquires, please contact Abi.

© Penny Pepper 2025

Author Penny Pepper sporting bright pink hair.

Penny Pepper

Facebook Logo
Instagram Logo
Bluesky Logo

Contact

Penny is represented by

Abi Fellows at DHH Literary.

To collaborate with Penny, for bookings, and for commercial enquires, please contact Abi.

© Penny Pepper 2025