Harriet Foyster (she/her) is our Creative Writing studio expert. She is a writer, editor, and artist living in Rotterdam. Working predominantly in the arts and cultural field with galleries, artists, and academies, she enjoys supporting and guiding writers to say what it is that they really want to say. In her own writing, which usually takes the form of short fiction, she likes to use observation and description to turn everyday situations into stories. Insistent on not being a monolingual English person, she is steadily learning Dutch, but one day hopes to learn to speak Spanish. She loves humour (and believes there should be more of it in art), swimming, and breakfast. 

As a writer, Harriet loves paying attention to each word of prose as though it were poetry; unusual and specific descriptions are her favourite. As an editor, she is particularly interested in accessibility, the fluidity of language, and how the rules we make for things like grammar and spelling carry more social meaning and influence than we might think. She tries to balance an eye for detail and correctness with an open-minded appreciation for newness and experimentation. 

With eight years of experience across writing, editing, proofreading, and coordinating books and publications, she has a rich understanding of each stage of the writing process, and the efforts and emotions that come along with it. An avid writer who nonetheless has bouts of writer’s block, she is curious about the role of ‘ideas,’ and sees great value in taking a free approach to writing. She has a patient ear for questions about style, form, and tone of writing projects, and is equally equipped with writing prompts and exercises to get the beginnings of a new thought flowing.