Gerri Brightwell was brought up in South Devon. After deciding a degree in zoology was not for her, she took up literature and art history, and lived on a narrow boat in Bristol. Since then she has roamed more widely, working in Spain, Thailand, Canada and the United States. She has worked as a cleaner, ice-cream seller, sandwich-maker, pottery sponger, editor and nanny, and is now a professor of creative writing at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She is married to fantasy writer, Ian C. Esslemont.
