Tyler Wetherall is a journalist and author. Her debut novel, Amphibian, is published on August 8th from Virago. Her first book, No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run, came out in 2018, followed her childhood as the daughter of an international pot smuggler and federal fugitive.  

Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, Vice, and Condé Nast Traveler, amongst others. Tyler has made appearances on podcasts and radio shows including BBC Outlook, Good Life Project, and Radiotopia's Criminal. 

She taught creative writing and journalism at Manhattanville College (New York) and City Academy (London), as well working with young people impacted by the carceral system through POPs (Pain of the Prison System).  

 After leaving Royal High in 2002, Tyler graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) in English Literature from Leeds University and a Masters with Distinction in Journalism from Goldsmiths College, London, having been awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council Scholarship. She was the recipient of an Arts Council England Literature award for No Way Home. 

Her writing is represented by Janklow & Nesbit Associates in New York.  She is currently the senior editor at James Beard award-winning drinks magazine SevenFifty Daily and lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband.   

What aspects of Royal High School Bath did you enjoy and find most rewarding? 

Looking back now, I’m sure the encouragement I received to write was part of what gave me the confidence to pursue being an author. I remember Mrs. Doyle once asked me to read an entire short story I wrote out loud to the class over two periods, and, along with the responses it received from classmates, it gave me the idea that I could be a writer one day. Mrs. Smerdon, too, always commended my writing, which meant a great deal to me, and she encouraged me to think deeply about literature.  

Any key memories?  

It’s the little things: running around the Big Garden playing make-believe games when we were younger. Then, as teenagers, hanging out in the art room making stuff and listening to music, or the hours and hours we spent in sixth form on the sofas in Gloucester House chatting about nothing and everything.      

What did you aspire to while at school?  

I always wanted to be a writer. I toyed with being a scriptwriter, but once I started writing stories, that was it. I remember trying to write my first novel at 12 (I never finished it, of course!)  

How did RHSB empower you for your future? 

All the ways I mentioned above, but also, the opportunity to try different art forms. I was always going to pursue a creative path but at school I tried out art, took music classes, staged and acted in plays, and all of that helped me make the choice to be a writer but also to feel well rounded in the arts generally.   

What has been your proudest moment?  

At school? Winning the GDST scholarship. I didn’t see myself as a particularly academic student before then, and it validated the idea that I could actually achieve more if I pushed myself. And today it’s becoming a published author. Even after publishing my memoir, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of writing a novel. The process hasn’t been straightforward, and there’s been a lot of rejection along the way – as there is for any career that’s challenging – but I’m incredibly proud that I persevered and that very soon I will be able to go into a bookshop and see it on the shelf!  

What would you say to your 11-year-old self?  

There are some big decisions ahead about further education and your career, so right now it’s time to be curious, to try out different versions of yourself, have fun with it, be brave, make mistakes, it doesn’t matter, and then when the time comes to make those big decisions, you’ll feel better prepared. And, also, what my mum always said to me: don’t worry so much about what other people think! Though I probably still wouldn’t listen!  

What are your hopes for the future?  

I plan to publish an essay collection, adapt my memoir into a film, and to write another novel. I’d like to own a house with a garden and get a dog one day. I’d like to do a bunch more traveling. I think if I manage all of that, I’ll feel pretty good about how life has worked out!