Rebecca Abrams is a British author, teacher and journalist.
Her books include Touching Distance, The Jewish Journey, When Parents Die and Three Shoes One Sock & No Hairbrush. She is a long-standing teacher of Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and a regular literary critic for the Financial Times.
2026 Creative Writing Course
Master the Art of Historical Fiction, Oxford
30th January - 18th December 2026
Transform your passion for the past into compelling historical fiction under the expert guidance of acclaimed author and creative writing teacher Rebecca Abrams. Whether you’re just starting out or already embarked on a historical novel, this unique, year-long course will take your writing to the next stage.
Meeting once a month in person from January to December 2026, this is a very special opportunity to join a group of enthusiastic and committed fellow-writers and be supported every step of the way in your own writing process.
Master the Art of Historical Fiction will equip you with all the essential techniques you need to create authentic, engaging historical fiction that deeply resonates with contemporary readers.
Plays
ALL OF US UK PREMIER IN MARCH 2026 - production by Human Story Theatre
Family conflict, generational guilt and restorative justice come together in ALL OF US, a powerful new stage play by Oxford author and playwright Rebecca Abrams.
An exciting revisioning of Sophocles’ Electra, the play follows a family fractured by domestic violence and incarceration. As one family member comes to the end of their prison sentence, each of them must confront how to move on and heal.
Books
Rebecca is the author of seven works of fiction and non-fiction and a verse play, The Pied Piper of Covid. Her debut novel, Touching Distance was shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize for Literature and won the MJA Open Book Award for Medical Fiction. Her most recent work of non-fiction, The Jewish Journey: 4000 years in 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum, has been described as ‘a celebration of Jewish life in all its worldly immensity - a tribute to the cosmopolitan ideals of Stefan Zweig.’ She is also the co-editor of Jewish Treasures From Oxford Libraries, currently long-listed for the 2021 Wingate Literary Prize.
Teaching
Rebecca teaches creative and academic writing at Oxford University, where she is a core tutor on the Masters in Creative Writing and teaches literature and creative writing at Keble College and Wadham College. In 2010 she created the Novel Thinking Programme for business leaders and from 2017-20 she was the RLF Fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford. She also provides private one-to-one mentoring and runs residential writing courses in England, Italy and Greece.
Journalism
Rebecca is a regular literary critic for the Financial Times and has written for many years for the UK's leading newspapers, including the Guardian, New Statesman, Daily Mail, Vogue and the Daily Telegraph, as a columnist, feature writer, book critic and commissioning editor. She is the recipient of an Amnesty International Award for Journalism.
The Pied Piper of Covid
The Pied Piper of Covid is a verse play written by Rebecca Abrams. A biting satire of the UK’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, it is inspired by Robert Browning's 1842 poem, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. This version pinions the parallels with today. A deadly plague, a mob of inept and dishonest political leaders, and a shadowy figure at the heart of government. But what is the plague in our case? And who exactly are the rats?
