Candice Carty-Williams is a celebrated British writer, born on July 21, 1989. She gained widespread recognition for her debut novel, Queenie, which was published in 2019. Before her success as a novelist, Carty-Williams contributed to a variety of esteemed publications, including The Guardian, i-D, Vogue, The Sunday Times, BEAT Magazine, and Black Ballad. Additionally, her voice is present in the anthology New Daughters of Africa (2019), edited by Margaret Busby.

Her literary career reached a significant milestone when she won the "Book of the Year" at the British Book Awards in June 2020 for Queenie, making history as the first black woman to receive this prestigious award. Carty-Williams's background is as unique as her writing; she is the daughter of a Jamaican cab driver and a Jamaican-Indian dyslexic receptionist. Despite being discouraged from pursuing English by her sixth-form teachers, she proved her capabilities by studying Media at Sussex University and forging a successful career first at the Guardian Guide and subsequently in the field of publishing.

Throughout her career in publishing, Carty-Williams has worked on marketing across genres, including literary fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels. Among her early highlights was interviewing the renowned director David Cronenberg, during which she made a memorable impression. In 2016, she made a notable contribution to the literary world by creating and launching a 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize in collaboration with the Guardian, aimed at promoting diversity in writing.