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E.S McLeod (also known as Ella McLeod) is an author and podcaster from South London. She loves magic, romance and believes in fictions ability to encourage us to radically reimagine the world we live in. Her work focuses on anti-racism, feminism and the power of dreaming.
E.S McLeod is an author and podcaster. She has written two YA novels under the name Ella McLeod: Rapunzella, Or, DonтАЩt Touch My Hair is a retelling of the Rapunzel story that explores themes of race, gender and coming of age. It was nominated for the prestigious Branford Boase Award and received rave reviews in Kirkus, the Irish Times, and the Guardian.
Her second novel The Map That Led to You is a romance which interwaves pirate and caribbean mermaid mythology, and was a Guardian Best Books Pick. Both were published by Scholastic in the US.
Her debut picture book, GOLDILOCS, published in January 2026 тАУ it is a fun, empowering remix of the original, exploring themes of authenticity and creativity. Her adult debut, ANDROMEDA, will be published in May 2026.
Andromeda has always known the price of beauty. Princess Aethiopia, and blessed at birth by the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite, she is fated for greatness. When forced into a deal with Poseidon, deadly god of the seas, Andromeda seems destined for even greater things than her mother could have hoped for.
But the deal also puts the queenтАЩs life in AndromedaтАЩs hands. Sent to guard Andromeda until judgement day is the shapeshifting Nereid Ceto, fearsom servant of Poseidon. Cold, scathing and with little interest in the princessтАЩs appearance, Ceto immediately stirs AndromedaтАЩs restment. yet as time passes, their mutal loathing blossoms into something more passionate тАУ and dangerous тАУ than either could have predicted.
Ella Graduated with a first class in English Literature with Theatre at Warick University and also hosts the podcast Comfort Creatures. She has since delivered the commencement address at her alma mater, as well as delivering a wide variety of talks and workshops to audiences of all ages.
She comes highly recommended as a panel chair and host, and has appeared on many panels as a guest, discussing everything from the machinations of the publishing industry to her place in the world as a young, black woman writing in a space where she has been historically marginalised.
