James Aitcheson is a novelist, medieval historian and literary consultant based in Nottingham in the UK. He has been writing professionally since 2010.
James is the author of four historical novels set in the Middle Ages, which have been published in the UK, the US, Germany and the Czech Republic. The Harrowing (Heron, 2016) was a Book of the Month in The Times. He is currently working on his fifth novel.
He is currently a postdoctoral Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space (University of Leicester). His research explores astronomy in the Early Middle Ages (c. 500–1100) and representations of outer space in contemporary literature (since c. 1990).
James’s love of the Middle Ages developed while he was studying History at the University of Cambridge. In 2021 he received his PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Nottingham. He has lectured in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Nottingham.
As a literary consultant, James works with clients including Midlands4Cities DTP, the University of Nottingham, The Literary Consultancy, Curtis Brown Creative and the Professional Writing Academy.
James is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and a member of the Royal Historical Society, the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England, the Society of Authors and the Historical Writers’ Association.