// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Xenobe Purvis? Alien to me, isn't he?
Xenobe Purvis | |
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| Born | Xenobe Eva Wendela Purvis 1990 (age 35–36) Tokyo, Japan |
| Education | |
Xenobe Eva Wendela Purvis (born 1990) is a British novelist and literary researcher.[1] She is known for her debut novel The Hounding (2025).
Early life
[edit]Purvis was born in Tokyo[2] to British parents. She and her older sister Kerensa founded the Anglo-Japanese cross-cultural art and design platform Nomikomu.[3]
Purvis studied English at Oxford University.[4] She graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) from Royal Holloway, University of London.[5]
Career
[edit]After completing her MA, Purvis continued her literary research. She worked as an assistant researcher for Katherine Bucknell's biography of Christopher Isherwood before joining the Christopher Isherwood Foundation.[2]
In November 2023, Hutchinson Heinemann acquired the rights to publish Purvis' debut novel The Hounding in August 2025.[6] The novel is based on physician John Freind's 1700 Oxfordshire account of five sisters "seized with frequent barking in the manner of dogs".[7][8] The Hounding was a New York Times Book Club pick,[9] an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce pick,[10] and named a must-read book of 2025 by Time Magazine.[11]
Works
[edit]Novels
[edit]- Purvis, Xenobe (5 August 2025). The Hounding. London: Hutchinson Heinemann. ISBN 978-1-250-36638-2. [12][13][14]
Select essays
[edit]- "Groaning Glaciers" in The London Magazine (2019)
- "A weakness for toads: How Christopher Isherwood foretold his own betrayal" in The Times Literary Supplement (2022)
References
[edit]- ↑ "Xenobe Purvis | Authors". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- 1 2 Cordasco-Pak, Corinne (29 July 2025). "Xenobe Purvis: On the Specificity of Strangeness, the Wonders of Archival Research, the Violence of Patriarchy, and Her Debut Novel 'The Hounding'". Write or Die Magazine. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ↑ "About". Nomikomu. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ↑ "Spotlight on alumni: Xenobe Purvis". English, University of Oxford. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ↑ "Meet Xenobe Purvis, who studied Creative Writing MA". Royal Holloway, University of London. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ↑ Wood, Heloise (November 2023). "Purvis' 'blinding' historical feminist debut won by Hutchinson Heinemann in four-way auction". The Bookseller. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ↑ Cogan, Marin (6 August 2025). "In this novel, five sisters are turning into dogs. Or are they?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 September 2025.(subscription required)
- ↑ Simon, Scott (9 August 2025). "Xenobe Purvis discusses her debut novel 'The Hounding,' about female persecution". NPR. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ↑ Franklin, MJ (26 December 2012). "Book Club: Read 'The Hounding,' by Xenobe Purvis, With the Book Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
- ↑ Spence, Marisa (6 August 2025). "Indies Introduce Q&A With Xenobe Purvis". American Booksellers Association. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ↑ "'The Hounding' Is One Of The Must-Read Books of 2025". Time Magazine. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2026.[dead link]
- ↑ "A Rich, Atmospheric Novel Thrumming With Menace". 5 August 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ↑ Zax, Talya (10 August 2025). "Literature's Enduring Obsession With Strange Sisters". The Atlantic. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ↑ Yatchisin, George. "The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis". California Review of Books. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
External links
[edit]| International | |
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| National | |
- 1990 births
- Living people
- 20th-century British women novelists
- 20th-century British novelists
- 21st-century British women novelists
- 21st-century British novelists
- Alumni of the University of Oxford
- Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London
- British literary scholars
- British women essayists
- British women historical novelists
- British women horror writers
- British women science fiction and fantasy writers
- Japanese women novelists
- Writers from Tokyo
- 20th-century Japanese women writers
- 21st-century Japanese women writers