Lucy Steeds
Soane's Garden Room, Pitzhanger Manor, London, W5 5EQ
Sunday 3rd May 2026
THE ARTIST
'Dextrous and powerful…a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment’ The Guardian
'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women.’ The Telegraph
Travel to sun-drenched Provence in the 1920s as Lucy Steeds talks about her acclaimed novel, winner of the Waterstones Debut Prize 2025 and a ‘book of the year’ in several newspapers. Through the dynamic between a reclusive painter, his niece Ettie and an aspiring journalist, The Artist explores themes of creativity, gender and overlooked female talent in this dazzlingly sensuous story of art, secrets and ambition.
Lucy Steeds is a novelist and a graduate of the Faber Academy and the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. She has a BA in English Literature and a Masters in World Literatures from the University of Oxford. She has lived in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Singapore. The Artist won the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025 and was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.
This event is supported by Notting Hill & Ealing High School
Event duration: 1 hour
'Dextrous and powerful…a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment’ The Guardian
'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women.’ The Telegraph
Travel to sun-drenched Provence in the 1920s as Lucy Steeds talks about her acclaimed novel, winner of the Waterstones Debut Prize 2025 and a ‘book of the year’ in several newspapers. Through the dynamic between a reclusive painter, his niece Ettie and an aspiring journalist, The Artist explores themes of creativity, gender and overlooked female talent in this dazzlingly sensuous story of art, secrets and ambition.
Lucy Steeds is a novelist and a graduate of the Faber Academy and the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. She has a BA in English Literature and a Masters in World Literatures from the University of Oxford. She has lived in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Singapore. The Artist won the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025 and was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.
This event is supported by Notting Hill & Ealing High School
Event duration: 1 hour
