A. K. Blakemore

Amy Katrina Blakemore (born 11 May 1991), known professionally as A. K. Blakemore, is an English author, poet, translator, and former model.

Early life and education Amy Katrina Blakemore was born on 11 May 1991 in London, England. She was raised in South London, where she attended comprehensive school in Deptford. She then went on to study language and literature at the University of Oxford.

Career Blakemore has cited Sam Riviere, Mary Ruefle, and Emily Dickinson as influences. In 2009 her work was anthologized in Bloodaxe Books's Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century. Her first single author publication, the pamphlet Amy's Intro, was published in 2012 as part of Nasty Little Press's Intro series. In 2016 she collaborated with If a Leaf Falls Press to publish the pamphlet pro ana, which was only distributed in a run of twenty-four copies. and awarded a Ledbury Forte Prize for the Best Second Collection at the 2019 Ledbury Poetry Festival.

Further original poetry has been featured in various literary publications including The White Review, and Ambit, as well as anthologized in Stop Sharpening Your Knives No. 4 (Egg Box, 2011) and The Best of British Poetry (Salt Publishing, 2015). In collaboration with Dave Haysom, Blakemore translated My Tenantless Body, a collection of poetry by Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo. The collection was published by the Poetry Translation Centre as part of their World Poets Series in 2019.

Since 2021, Blakemore has moved toward becoming a novelist. Her first novel, The Manningtree Witches (Granta Books, 2021), is a fictional account of the Essex witch trials. It has received generally positive reviews, and was the 2021 winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize.

The Glutton (Granta Books, 2023) fictionalizes the true story of Tarrare, a French showman with polyphagia who served as a military courier in the French Revolution. It was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Encore Award.

Adaptations In July 2022, The Forge Entertainment optioned the rights to adapt The Manningtree Witches for television.

The Manningtree Witches was adapted for stage by Ava Pickett. Directed by Natasha Rickman, the play will premiere in February 2026 at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester.