Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Dr Alison Taft
Course Director
Alison Taft is a crime writer and the author of The Disappeared and The Runaway which are published under her pen name Ali Harper. She is Course Director for Creative Writing with a particular interest in the domestic thriller.
Alison is the author of five published novels and is currently working on her sixth. Her interests include voice, tone and sexuality, particularly within the crime and noir genres. She has taught creative writing in numerous settings, including prisons, retreats, community centres, schools, universities and literature festivals across the country.
Previously, Alison worked within film and TV production and she teaches both screen writing and adaptation modules, looking at how stories change as they cross from print to visual media platforms.
Alison has also worked in the professional placements and employability department of a university and is committed to ensuring that all Leeds Beckett creative writing degree courses have an employability focus which prepares students for life beyond graduation.
Current Teaching
- Adaptation: Literary Afterlives
- Screenwriting
Research Interests
Alison has varied interests and this is reflected in her writing, which often centres around themes of belonging and the search for identity, as well as man's inhumanity to [wo]man.
Alison is also interested in the creative process and the therapeutic benefits to writing. She is currently involved in research that aims to examine the relationship between the creative process and seasonal energy and is passionately committed to writing as a transformative experience.
Ask Me About
- Crime
- Feminism
- Film
- Literature
- Mental health
- Prison
- Television
- Writing
