Becoming Drusilla

Richard Beard’s most recent book is Acts of the Assassins, which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize.In the twenty years since his first book he has published critically acclaimed novels and narrative non-fiction, including Becoming Drusilla, the story of how a friendship between two men was changed by a gender transition. He was formerly Director of the National Academy of Writing in London, and is now a Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo and has a Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia. He is an optimistic opening batsman for the Authors Cricket Club.

"A wonderfully sympathetic account of how and, possibly, why Drew became Dru" Daily Mail "A gentle, wise and touching book, full of warmth, humour, friendship and humanity" Literary Review "A brave and intelligent book" Daily Telegraph "This beautifully-written and thoroughly well-researched book is Beard's searingly honest attempt to understand what his friend had gone through ... It is deliciously un-PC, unpreachy, refreshingly free of sentimentality, and, at times, drily comic... touching and life affirming. It left me marvelling about human nature. There aren't many of those kinds of books about" -- Dermond Moore Irish Post "This very personal story of how the friendship between two men had to be completely re-evaluated when one of them had a sex change is written in an honest and deeply thoughtful way and is totally devoid of any sensationalism or prurience" reFresh magazine