Imogen Hermes Gowar

Imogen Hermes Gowar is a British author. She published her debut novel The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, winning a Betty Trask Award in 2019; it became shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

Gowar's great-grandmother was the engraver and sculptor Gertrude Hermes.^[1]

Gowar studied archaeology, anthropology and art history at the University of East Anglia.^[2] She then worked in museums, including in Visitor Services at the British Museum, while writing short fiction inspired by the exhibits.^[2][1] She also worked as a barista in London prior to publishing her first book.^[1]

In 2013, Gowar won the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Scholarship to study for a master's degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia.^[1] Her dissertation developed into her debut novel The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock.^[1] The novel won a Betty Trask Award in 2019 and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award in 2018.^[3][4][5] It was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2018.^[6]

Gowar is currently writing her next book.^[6]