Haleh Agar is a novelist, short story writer and an award-winning essayist. Her debut novel, ‘Out of Touch’, was published by Hachette. ‘Not Contagious”, a short story, was Highly Commended by the Costa Short Story Award, and her narrative essay ‘On Writing Ethnic Stories’ won The London Magazine’s essay competition. Haleh has given talks at literary events, including at the London Library. She is currently undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her novel Coo (forthcoming 2027) has received the 2024 Literature Matters award from the Royal Society of Literature and funding from The Society of Authors in 2025. The gothic satire novel re-imagines The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the context of the 1953 Western-led coup in Iran and explores British and American colonialism in the Middle East.