Alice Oseman

She was named to the BBC's 100 Women list in November 2023, and in October 2024. She was named to Time's Time100 Next list. Oseman secured her first publishing deal at 17 and published her first novel Solitaire in 2014. She rose to widespread prominence for writing and illustrating the webcomic and graphic novel series Heartstopper from 2016 to 2026, which has been adapted into a critically acclaimed TV series (2022–2024) and film (2026).

Alice Oseman was born on 16 October 1994 in Chatham, Kent and grew up in a village near Rochester, Kent with her younger brother, William, and attended Rochester Grammar School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Durham University in 2016. In July 2024, Oseman received an honorary degree from the University of Kent at a Rochester Cathedral graduation ceremony for Doctors of Letters and Arts.

Oseman's third book, I Was Born for This, was published in May 2018. It follows the story of Angel Rahimi and Jimmy Kaga-Ricci who are, respectively, a massive fan and the lead singer of boy band The Ark. The book explores Fandom culture, obsession, and identity alongside Oseman's trademark depictions of teenage friendship, sexuality and gender, and mental illness. It was nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction Book in both the Goodreads Choice Awards and The Bookseller Awards. To celebrate the release of her third novel, Oseman's previous two novels and her two novellas all received new, matching covers, designed by Oseman. In July 2020, Oseman published her fourth young adult novel Loveless. Loveless tells the story of 18-year-old Georgia Warr as she begins her first year as a student at Durham University and who, despite being an avid fan fiction reader and lover of romance movies, has never kissed anyone or had a crush before. In addition to Georgia's personal journey of self-discovery as she realises she is aromantic and asexual, the book also discusses sexuality, identity, and discrimination within the LGBT community, as well as the effect of abusive relationships. While not an autobiographical book, Oseman has said that Loveless draws a lot from her own experiences growing up and discovering asexuality. She also emphasised the importance of writing a book centered around platonic love, stating that she "wanted to craft a story that had the structure of a romance but was about a friendship." Loveless received positive critical reception from literary reviewers and media outlets, with many praising the novel's treatment of asexuality and its intersectional and diverse depiction of sexuality. Jonny Yates of PinkNews wrote that the novel is "perhaps one of the most notable and popular books with aromantic characters" and Ani Bundel of Paste expressed how asexuality in novels is "a rare thing still, and the burgeoning world of LGBTQ+ love stories needs more of them." The novel received the YA Book Prize in 2021, and was nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction Book in the Goodreads Choice Awards.

While promoting Loveless, Oseman opened up about being aromantic and asexual. Oseman uses she/her and they/them pronouns. Oseman announced that she was going on hiatus from Heartstopper in 2022 due to stress and mental health issues. The series returned in April 2023.

Upon "falling in love" with the characters of Nick and Charlie, Oseman decided their story needed further exploration and began the Heartstopper online webcomic series. The episodic comic first appeared online on Tumblr and Tapas in September 2016 and follows Tori's younger brother Charlie through high school as he meets and then begins dating Nick Nelson. While the comic features some of the same characters and takes place in the same universe and timeline as Solitaire, its tone is notably different. Where Solitaire is a grimly realistic depiction of mental illness and struggle, Heartstopper provides a more uplifting view of the world and focuses much more on romance. The comics have been hosted via Webtoon since August 2019. There are eight chapters available in full online, with the last page in the main story being published on April 1st, 2026. The epilogue, showing Nick & Charlie's life after the end of chapter eight, was released on April 11th 2026. In October 2018, Hachette Children's Group acquired the rights to physical publishing of the first two volumes of Heartstopper, and by January 2019, the third and fourth volumes. Volume 1 (including chapters 1 and 2) was published in October 2018, Volume 2 (chapter 3) in July 2019, Volume 3 (chapter 4) in February 2020, Volume 4 (chapters 5 and 6) in May 2021, Volume 5 (chapter 7) in December 2023, and Volume 6 (chapter 8 and an epilogue) in July 2026. See-Saw Films optioned the television rights to Heartstopper in 2019. On 20 January 2021, it was revealed that a live-action television adaptation of Heartstopper was ordered to series by Netflix, with Oseman writing the script and Euros Lyn directing. Patrick Walters of See-Saw Films serves as executive producer. Kit Connor and Joe Locke star as Nick and Charlie respectively. It premiered on 22 April 2022, to critical acclaim with the first season receiving nine nominations and five wins, including Outstanding Young Teen Series, at the inaugural ceremony of the Children's and Family Emmy Awards. Oseman appears in a brief cameo in episode eight of season one. On 20 May 2022, Netflix announced that the series was being recommissioned for a second and third season. Following the release of the series, the first volume of the Heartstopper graphic novel became the top-selling children's bestseller in the UK. The show's second season was released on 3 August 2023 and received high praise for tackling more serious issues while maintaining the optimistic feel of the first season. Season 3 was released on 3 October 2024 and was similarly praised for further developing the show's themes and for its nuanced and respectful discussion of mental health and relationship struggles.