John L Williams

John L. Williams is a historian, novelist, and biographer from
Cardiff. His non-fiction includes his much-acclaimed biography of the
Trinidadian polymath CLR James, and his account of the Cardiff Three
miscarriage of justice case, Bloody Valentine (‘A bloody good book’ -
Benjamin Zephaniah), as well as his enduringly popular portrait of
urban America as seen through the prism of crime fiction, Into The
Badlands. His biography of his fellow Cardiffian Shirley Bassey was
proclaimed the music book of the year by The Times. He is the crime
fiction reviewer for The Mail on Sunday. He is the co-founder and
literary director of the Laugharne Weekend Festival in west Wales. The
one single recorded by his punk band, Puritan Guitars, is surprisingly
collectible.

His new book, HEATWAVE, on the summer of 1976, will be published by Monoray in 2025.

Bluesky: @johnelwilliams.bsky.social