Jyoti Patel is a writer.
In 2021 she won the #Merky Books New Writers' Prize, which led to publishing her debut novel, The Things That We Lost, in January 2023.
Jyoti is a graduate of the University of East Anglia's Prose Fiction MA, and her work has previously been published as part of WePresent's 'Literally' series, and in the anthology for the 2022 Bristol Short Story Prize.
He debut novel, The Things That We Lost, is a gorgeous and heartbreaking story that explores what it means to be a person of colour in the UK today. It's an exploration of family, loss and ultimately love and it discusses the nature of identity, belonging, and the stories we tell ourselves to manage trauma.

We chatted with Jyoti about her creative influences growing up, how she went from writing for joy, to falling out of love with it, to winning the #Merky Books New Writer’s prize, and learned about her goal to tell a story that centres a British Gujarati family who don’t fall into stereotypes.
Find out more about Jyoti here - https://www.instagram.com/jyotisbooks/
Grab a copy of The Things That We Lost here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/448416/the-things-that-we-lost-by-patel-jyoti/9781529186338
Find out more about #Merky Books here - https://www.instagram.com/merkybooks/

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artists in residence is hosted by Isabelle Wilkinson, founder of the artists in residence community. To get in touch, pitch yourself as a guest, or share your creative project with us, email [email protected]

Episode produced by Billy Truswell. Brand design and episode artwork by Holly Whitaker.

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