Zillah Bethell was born in Papua New Guinea, spent her childhood barefoot playing in the jungle, and didn’t own a pair of shoes until she came to the UK when she was eight.
She read English at Wadham College, Oxford and lives in south Wales with her family. Zillah has published three adult novels on subjects ranging from depression to the Paris communes and artist Gwen John. Her work for children includes four middle-grade novels: A Whisper of Horses, The Extraordinary Colours of Auden Dare, The Shark Caller (shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award) and The Song Walker (shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal 2024)