Sophie Jai

Writer in Manchester, UK

Sophie Jai is a novelist. Her award-winning, internationally recognized debut novel Wild Fires was published by HarperCollins in several countries.

She is currently working on her second novel, while talking about books on RLF's MosaicWriters.

She was born and raised in Trinidad and currently lives in Manchester.

Dead Weight (Short story, The Malahat Review, coming Spring 2026)
Review: Ever Since We Small (MosaicWriters, 2025)
Meridian (Anthology of the Best Creative Writing from the University of Oxford, 2025)
Wild Fires (Debut novel, HarperCollins, 2022/23)
A World Within Walls (Essay, Wasafiri Magazine, 2022)
A Body Full of Women Writing (Essay, Sangam House, 2021)
From the Writer in Residence (Essay, Oxford University Magazine, 2020)

Finalist, 2023 Toronto Book Awards for Wild Fires
Winner, 2023 Canadian Authors Association Fred Kerner Book Award for Wild Fires
Winner, 2019 Borough Press & The Good Literary Agency Award for Wild Fires
Shortlisted, 2023 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Wild Fires
Longlist, 2019 Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a First Novel for Wild Fires
Editor’s Choice, The Bookseller for Wild Fires, 2022
A Book of the Year, The White Review for Wild Fires, 2022
Kellogg Scholar, University of Oxford, 2022 – ‘24
Writer-in-Residence & Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford, 2020
Writer-in-Residence, Sangam House, India, 2020
Artist-in-Residence, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, 2019-20
Selected as Emerging Writer, Canada’s Festival of Literary Diversity, 2017