Alex Pheby

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-19

Alex Pheby, born in 1970, is a British novelist and academic who currently serves as Professor of Creative Writing (Prose) at Newcastle University and lives in Scotland. He was educated at the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, Goldsmiths, and the University of East Anglia. His early novels, Afterimages of Schreber (2014) and Playthings (2015), explore the real case of nineteenth-century German judge Daniel Paul Schreber and his experience of schizophrenia; Playthings was shortlisted for the GBP30,000 Wellcome Book Prize in 2016 and was described by the Literary Review as one of the best neuro-novels ever written. His novel Lucia (2018), concerning James Joyce's daughter Lucia Joyce, was joint winner of the Republic of Consciousness Prize. Pheby is also the author of the Cities of the Weft fantasy trilogy, comprising Mordew (2020), Malarkoi (2022), and Waterblack (2025), an ambitious secondary-world epic praised for its dense, inventive worldbuilding and dark, fabulist tone, following the orphan boy Nathan Treeves through a mud-built city ruled by living gods. His earlier novel Grace was published by Two Ravens Press. Pheby has appeared at genre events including MCM London Comic Con, reflecting his crossover between literary fiction and fantasy readerships.

Universe(s)

Books

• Mordew (2020) · Cities of the Weft Core Canon
• Malarkoi (2022) · Cities of the Weft Core Canon
• Waterblack (2025) · Cities of the Weft Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 3 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 0 (None recorded)

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