Claire Adam

Claire Adam (born 1973/1974) is a Trinidad and Tobago-born author whose first novel Golden Child triggered critical acclaim.

Biography Claire Adam was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the youngest of four children. Her father was a doctor and university lecturer at the University of the West Indies. Her mother, also a doctor, is Irish. After having children, her mother stopped practising medicine.

Leaving Trinidad at the age of 18, She then lived for some years in Italy and Ireland, before settling in London, England. She earned an MA degree in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she began work on her first novel, Golden Child (2019), which was awarded the 2019 Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel. Golden Child also won the 2020 McKitterick Prize, the 2019 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, and was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award.

Adam's second novel, Love Forms, was longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize.

Awards and recognition Year Work!! Award !! Category !! Result !! Ref

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award

Authors' Club Best First Novel Award

Diverse Book Awards Adult 2nd Place Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award — Jhalak Prize — McKitterick Prize

2025 Love Forms Booker Prize —