Emma Williams

Emma Williams is a writer and retired Consultant Clinical Forensic Psychologist. During her career she specialised in the care and treatment of people with schizophrenia in secure psychiatric hospitals. She has written two professional books on schizophrenia and psychological approaches to psychosis.

She draws on her thirty years experience working in forensic psychiatric services to write fiction that explores the unsettling space between humour and darkness, blending psychological insight with sharp, often subversive comedy.

Emma's short fiction and poetry have appeared in several anthologies and have been recognised in numerous writing awards. Her short story Best Served Cold won the 2021 Segora International Prize and she won Gold in the Wenlock Olympian Society short story prize two years running. Her latest novel, Edgar, was listed in the top five percent of the Bridport Novel Award 2025.

Emma is the author of three novels ranging from comic murder mysteries to darker psychological fiction. The Tortoise is a satirical story of friendship, betrayal and revenge featuring a retired GP suspected of murder. Nothing but the Truth brings murder and mayhem to an English village where an imposter vicar is hiding half a million pounds of stolen bank notes. Edgar is a darkly comic psychological thriller following a highly intelligent, unreliable narrator who escapes from a high-security psychiatric hospital after hearing a story about himself on the radio.

Emma lives in Shropshire, she spends her time walking in the woods, watching wildlife, and visiting remote lighthouses — all places where, much like her stories, have a habit of taking unexpected turns.