Georgina Simmons

Georgina was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1979 and came to London with her mother at the age of 2.

As a child she always had her nose in a book. Captivated by worlds forged from the creative minds of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, and intrigued by characters crafted by Richard Wright and Alice Walker, it was no surprise to anyone, that as soon as she was able to construct her own sentences, Georgina began to pen her own stories.

To this day Georgina credits Toni Morrison as her first great literary hero, specifically the late author's masterpiece 'Bluest Eye'.

"Ms Morrison taught me everything I would come to know about world building, unique language and how to write boldly and unashamedly.”

Inspired by the outstanding author's work, Georgina began her first novel 'The Kingdom of Cush' in 2017. The middle grade fantasy story is the first in 'The Chronicles of Jozzie Taylor' series. Quick on its heels the second book 'The Prince of Atlantis', was also published by JOBA Publishing. Based on the ancient African kingdom, Georgina inhabits this magical land with a breed of creatures known as Humanalia, humans who can shape shift into animals. Among the most famous of these is Papa Anansi, or as the rest of the world knows him, Anansi the Spider-Man.

It seemed only fitting then, that the folklore icon should have his own book, hence 'Papa Anansi and his Spectacular Spider Stories' was born. In this ode to the original Spider Man, Georgina pulled together 12 of his most popular folk tales and based them in Cush alongside popular characters from the Jozzie Taylor series such as Mamere, the sharp tongued sorceress. The final story, titled 'Anansi and the War God Kokou', is an original work by the author and a nod to book three of the Jozzie Taylor series, 'The Bow of Kokou'.

Georgina's writing portfolio includes contributions to two anthologies, including The Ink Academy’s ‘Ink Anthology’, which published her short story ‘The Bird’ in 2017.

In 2018, her flash fiction crime stories; 'The State of Man', and 'My Brother's Keeper', were published in Culture World's, 'Shots in the Dark'.

'The Bird' makes an appearance in Georgina's own collection of short stories titled 'The Tales We Do Not Tell'. These macabre stories are an exploratory narrative of the authentic human experience, and places themes such as love, hate and vengeance, within a fantastical landscape which often dives into the religious and superstitious.