Jeanette Winterson OBE was born in Manchester. Adopted by Pentecostal parents she was raised to
be a missionary. This did and didn¿t work out. Discovering early the power of books she left
home at 16 to live in a Mini and get on with her education. After graduating from Oxford
University she worked for a while in the theatre and published her first novel at 25. Oranges
Are Not The Only Fruit is based on her own upbringing but using herself as a fictional
character. She scripted the novel into a BAFTA-winning BBC drama. 27 years later she re-visited
that material in the bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? She has written
10 novels for adults as well as children¿s books non-fiction and screenplays. She writes
regularly for the Guardian . She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields London.
She believes that art is for everyone and it is her mission to prove it.
