Stef Penney

Stef Penney (born 1965 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish filmmaker, screenwriter, and novelist who studied Philosophy and Theology at Bristol University before pursuing film studies at Bournemouth College of Art. She gained acclaim with her debut novel The Tenderness of Wolves (2006), winning the Costa Book of the Year and other awards despite researching its 1860s Canadian setting entirely from London libraries due to agoraphobia. Notable subsequent works include The Invisible Ones (2011), Under a Pole Star (2016, Costa-shortlisted), The Beasts of Paris (2023), and The Long Water (2024) Goodreads.