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Seth Insua is an Anglo-Spanish writer and artist. He was born in Kent in 1989. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a First in English Language and Literature. He has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and The London Magazine's Short Story Competition and was a semi-finalist in the BlueCat Screenplay Competition. He currently lives with his husband, David, between Newcastle upon Tyne and Madrid. Human, Animal is his first novel.
Beautifully, skilfully told with real tension and gorgeous characters, Human, Animal moved me to tears. Seth Insua writes with so much kindness, empathy and wisdom; everyone is understood and forgiven and revealed. The narrative sneaks up in tiny moments packed with emotion that never become overwrought. Taut, precise, witty, insightful, it barrelled me along. Remarkable, inspirational writing -- Russell T Davies A beautiful, clever debut, written with such tenderness for its muddled, struggling cast. Seth Insua balances polarised worlds - the young and old, the urban and rural, the expected and forbidden - to create a novel so full of generosity and insight -- Abigail Dean, author of Girl A and Day One Seth Insua probes the spaces between black-and-white-thinking with immeasurable sensitivity. Insua holds a mirror up to the 'good' of animal rights campaigning, and the 'evil' of dairy farming, to show that the lines aren't so clear cut, and that life is much messier. Messy, also, is the conflict between traditional values and the advancement of modern technology, of trying to express one's queerness in such a hypermasculine setting. Human, Animal manages to explore all this, and the anxious convergence of the past, present and future, with staggering clarity. A truly impressive debut -- Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires Seth Insua understands at a deep level how the British heart and mind struggles to come to terms with nature or to leave it behind - beneath the surface of this beguiling novel is the teeming life of the soil, the pull of the moon, hooves, blood and meat. A timely meditation on conflict, value and possibility that gently urges the only worthwhile thing, to hold on where we can, to put it into words -- Nick Blackburn, author of The Reactor Human, Animal is a formidable saga of British farming - spinning a moving tale of belonging, family, and land that brings country life into fierce reckoning with the modern world. As vital and sweeping as the countryside it enfolds us in -- Scott Preston, author of The Borrowed Hills
