Meet the author

Nat Luurtsema.

Writer · United Kingdom

Nat Luurtsema: comedian-turned-author whose funny, big-hearted diary-style stories give nine-to-twelve-year-old overthinkers real laughs and gentle wisdom about worry and growing up.

Nat Luurtsema is a British author, screenwriter and comedian who brings a stand-up's timing to fiction for older children and teenagers. After eight years on the comedy circuit she turned to writing, publishing the YA novel Girl Out of Water (also released in the US as Goldfish) and its follow-up, before moving into middle-grade with warm, diary-style stories such as The Overthinkers' Club: Happy List. Her writing pairs genuine laugh-out-loud comedy with a sharp, empathetic eye for the anxieties of the tween years: shifting friendships, starting secondary school, blended families and worrying about worrying. Illustrated throughout and pitched squarely at nine-to-twelves, her books offer gentle wisdom about mental health and self-acceptance without ever feeling like a lesson, making her a good fit for readers who want to laugh and feel understood at once.