Xanthi Barker was born in London where she still lives. Her fiction has been published in Litro and MsLexia, and shortlisted for the Fish Prize. 'Paradoxical', the first chapter of WILL THIS HOUSE LAST FOREVER?, was highly commended in the 2018 Spread the Word Life Writing Prize. Her novelette ONE THING is published by Open Pen.
I loved this delicate and engaging story of love and grief so much that it made me wish I was still a bookseller so I could press it into the hands of all my customers... It's so honest and beautifully written -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of THE LAST ACT OF LOVE Barker's attempt to triangulate a void is haunting. Yet even from the depths her memories glow with life, the writing gleams with precision -- Rhik Samadder, author of I NEVER SAID I LOVED YOU The story of a relationship defined by departures... arresting and beautifully written * The Bookseller (Editor's Choice, June) * Conveys brilliantly the maddening experience of loving someone who is absent when present and present when absent... I was drawn in by her intense prose. A great new talent -- Jill Hopper, author of THE MAHOGANY POD This book counts the true cost of having a writer in the family. Meticulously, Xanthi Barker traces the fault lines of her fractured relationship with her father back through his own marriage, all the way to her grandparents' union: the original, generative source of their poetry and pain. This is a fearless debut: potent and intensely moving -- Tabitha Lasley, author of SEA STATE