Natalie Haynes began her career as a comedian. However, as a trained classicist, who studied at Cambridge, she has morphed into one of Britain’s most successful authors. Haynes is at the forefront of perhaps the biggest movement in modern literature: the retelling of ancient myths from the perspective of women.
Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster and – according to the Washington Post – a rock star mythologist. Her first novel, The Amber Fury, was published to great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, as was The Ancient Guide to Modern Life, her previous book. Her second novel, The Children of Jocasta, was published in 2017. Her retelling of the Trojan War, A Thousand Ships, was published in 2019. It was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020. It has been translated into multiple languages. Her most recent non-fiction book, Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myth was published in October 2020, and reached number 2 in the New York Times Bestseller chart. Her novel about Medusa, Stone Blind, was published in Sep 2022 and Margaret Atwood liked it. So did Neil Gaiman.
She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4: reviewing for Front Row and Saturday Review, appearing as a team captain on Wordaholics. Nine series of her show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, have been broadcast on Radio 4, as has her documentary on Greek Tragedy and soap opera, Oedipusenders. Her documentary on the Defining Beauty exhibition at the British Museum, Secret Knowledge: The Body Beautiful aired in 2015 on BBC4 in the UK and on BBC World News everywhere else.
Natalie has appeared on Woman’s Hour, You and Yours, A Good Read, and What’s The Point Of…? and she has been a panellist on Banter, Quote Unquote, Personality Test, We’ve Been Here Before, and Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive, all on Radio 4. She has spoken on the modern relevance of the classical world on three continents, from Cambridge to Chicago to Auckland.
Natalie writes for The Guardian and The Independent. She was a guest contributor for The Times from 2006–2010. She wrote the fortnightly TV Detectives blog for The Guardian, and has written for The Observer, New Statesman, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, Evening Standard and others. She is also a paper reviewer
Her most recent book, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth (2024), will change everything you thought you knew about our most ancient stories. Full of fire, fury and devotion, Natalie Haynes brings the divine women of Olympus kicking and screaming into the modern age.
