Jude Hayland

Born in London, I spent many years writing commercial short fiction for magazines and was widely published in both the UK and internationally. Completing an M.A. in Creative Writing with distinction entirely changed my focus and I started writing longer fiction, completing my first novel in 2017, COUNTING THE WAYS.

My second novel, THE LEGACY OF MR JARVIS was published in 2019 and my third, MILLER STREET SW22 was published in February 2021.  My fourth novel, THE ODYSSEY OF LILY PAGE, was published at the end of 2023. All my books are available as both paperbacks and eBooks.  I have also published an ebook of light commercial women's fiction stories under the name Polly Dodd, entitled TESTING THE WATERS AND OTHER STORIES. My novels are all character-driven stories about the complexities of love and relationships, familial obligation, freedom and fulfilment and are set in the recent past, ranging from 1983 to 2006. 

I am now working on my fifth novel and its subject is a departure for me - a WW2 novel and my first venture into writing about an era that I did not personally experience and therefore requires considerable research.

In addition to writing, I also teach creative writing classes and combine this with working as a tutor of English and Drama. I enjoy talking to clubs, societies and groups about my extensive writing career and about related literary matters and I blog regularly from my website.

I have lived in Winchester for the past 30 years although London remains the place that has the greatest sense of home to me.

I also spend a great deal of time at a family house in northwest Crete.

My genre can be summed up, therefore, as : literary/commercial/lit/lite/book group fiction and is likely to appeal to readers of Anita Brookner, Margaret Forster, Penelope Lively, Anna Quindlen - to name just a few.