Lisa is the author and photographer of several award-winning books about the sea, beachcombing and mudlarking. Her memoir Rag and Bone (John Murray 2020) won the Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award for Non-fiction.

Lisa grew up on eroding cliffs on the Isle 
of Sheppey, at the mouth of the Thames. Her grandfather was from a South London family in the ‘scavenging professions’ and she spent much of her childhood fossicking along the island’s shores, collecting—among other things—fossils, sharks’ teeth and old bottles.

Lisa on her local beach in Cornwall
Photo Ellie Wainwright

The island’s cliffs have a strange and otherworldly feel as they are constantly being washed away, losing on average five feet a year. She grew up with stories of local churches and pubs that over the years had been lost to the sea. A favourite childhood place was the derelict ‘Pub With No Beer’ near the edge of the cliff, with the gents already partway to the beach. In the 1940s and 50s her nan had played piano there, and the ruined piano was still in the bar.

After leaving the island, Lisa worked as a documentary photographer for 12 years. Past clients include the Independent on Sunday, Daily Telegraph and Observer. For the last 20 years she has lived with her family on the south coast of Cornwall, in a house shared with buckets and boxes of beach finds.

Lisa below the site of the Pub With No Beer
Photo Laurie Harpum

Previously, Lisa has given book talks at the Port Eliot Festival, Southwold Lit Fest, Paisley Book Festival, Appledore Book Festival, Fowey Festival, North Cornwall Book Festival and Bournemouth Arts by the Sea. The talks are often illustrated with her photographs and a shoebox of finds.

She is represented by Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander.


For some background stories from the two most recent books, see the blogs below:



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