Lauren Beukes

Lauren Beukes is a South African author known for genre-bending fiction that combines speculative ideas with social commentary. She is best known for The Shining Girls (2013), which was adapted into an Apple TV+ series starring Elisabeth Moss, and her latest novel, Bridge (2023). This speculative thriller delves into grief, identity, and the concept of parallel worlds.

Lauren Beukes studied Creative Writing at the University of Cape Town. She began her career as a journalist and documentary filmmaker. Her early works include Moxyland (2008) and Zoo City (2010), the latter of which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award. She went on to direct Glitterboys & Ganglands, which won the Best LGBTI Film award at the Atlanta Black Film Festival, and served as the showrunner of Pax Afrika, South Africa's first half-hour animated television series.

She is also the author of Broken Monsters (2014) and Afterland (2020), as well as the short story collection Slipping and the pop history Maverick: Extraordinary Women from South Africa's Past. Her work spans multiple formats, including comics. She wrote Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom, a Japanese horror remix of Rapunzel, and Survivors' Club, an original horror series with Dale Halvorsen and Ryan Kelly.

Her sixth novel, Bridge (2023), follows Bridge, a 24-year-old woman who travels through alternate realities in search of her deceased mother. Jo, a rebellious neuroscientist obsessed with an artefact known as the Dreamworm, believed in other universes. After Jo's death, Bridge finds evidence that her mother may still exist — somewhere else. As she moves between realities, Bridge faces unexpected dangers and confronts who she might become. The novel draws on neuroscience, parasitology, and quantum theory to explore what it means to lose someone—and yourself.

Beukes has won several literary awards, including the Strand Critics' Choice Award, the Kitschies Red Tentacle and the Mbokodo Award.

Her stories have been published in 24 countries. She has spoken at international events including TEDx Johannesburg, Webstock and Design Indaba.

Lauren Beukes lives in London with her teenage son and two cats.

Photo credit: laurenbeukes.com