Client details

Alexandra Heminsley worked in publishing for six years before becoming a freelance journalist, broadcaster and author.  She is the books editor for Elle UK magazine, The Claudia Winkleman arts show on BBC Radio 2, was the Book Club Expert on Sky1 Daytime Series Angela & Friends and a regular contributor to the Simon Mayo Books Panel on BBC Radio 5live.

She is a regular contributor to Waterstone's Books Quarterly, the Independent on Sunday and Grazia magazine, as well as the Richard Bacon Show on BBC Radio 5 Live, and Nemone's BBC 6music afternoon show.

Her book Ex and the City: You're Nobody Till Somebody Dumps You is an honest and achingly funny account of the horrors of being dumped that finds comedy in love's most painful moments. Pan Macmillan acquired the book in a pre-emptive deal. She was a contributor to Hang the DJ: An Alternative Book of Music Lists published by Faber & Faber in 2008. She has also worked as ghostwriter on fiction and non-fiction projects for several major publishers.

She was a judge for this year's Costa Novel of the Year Award.

Current publication: 

RUNNING LIKE A GIRL - HUTCHINSON - 2013

Until five years ago, Alex was not a Runner.  Or in any sense Sporty. She was an ordinary, curvy woman, who had let sport drop after school, and considered the world of running to be beyond her.  But in 2012 Alex will, at Nike’s invitation, take part in the Women’s Marathon in San Francisco – her fourth full marathon.

More importantly, she would say, she’s made running part of her life, and gets to reap the rewards: not just the obvious things, like a touch of weight loss, health and glowing skin, but self-belief, and immeasurable daily pleasure. She’s discovered a new closeness to her father – a marathon-runner of many years’ standing – and her brother, with whom she ran her first marathon, as well as a new side to herself, and has become intrigued by the little-known but rich feminist history to running.

Along the way, Alex has had to handle the logistics of learning to run: the intimidating questions of a 22 year-old sales assistant while buying trainers, where to get decent bra for the larger bust, and how to apply Vaseline to make the wearing of both comfortable. She’s worked out how not to freeze, how not to get sunstroke, and what (and when) to eat before a run. She’s worked out what’s important (pockets) and what isn’t (appearance) about what you wear. She’s conquered the logistics of how to run a race, and how to use a heart rate monitor. She’s run the gamut of uncontrollable emotion that a long-distance race can bring, and she’s experienced the zen moment of distance covered, problems solved, that is the grail of every regular runner.

As Alex says, there are running books about going the furthest, going the fastest and doing it all in the least amount of footwear. These are books that are almost always by, and about, men. And there are running books that calmly and clearly talk you through how to get anywhere from 5k to 26.2 miles. But there is little to encourage the woman who, after a few too many years of white wine for supper and a sneaky fag on a Friday night, has a tiny, whispering voice in her head suggesting that she might like to give it a go. Part memoir, part ‘how to’, RUNNING LIKE A GIRL will be a thoughtful, kind and practical exhortation to ‘ordinary women’ to lace up their trainers, and see what they are capable of. 

Praise for RUNNING LIKE A GIRL:

"What's truly excellent about this book is its generosity...  likable, readable and enlightening. Also inspiring if, like me, you've only just discovered the seven fathoms of joy that result from galumphing around the park in your new-rave trainers. What this book does is persuade even the most unconfident of non-joggers that they just might be born to run. Come ON!" Miranda Sawyer, Observer

"this is not simply a book about running - it’s about discipline, self-knowledge, emotions and relationships and should inspire even the most committed couch potato to strap on their trainers and discover a new world." Daily Mail 

"Running gets a coolover courtesy of marathon aficionado and girl about town Heminsley. If even the word marathon brings you out in a cold sweat, then this brilliantly titled book is the perfect antidote to running reluctance... an honest and uplifting account, pitching practical know-how... along with insights into the personal doubts and daunts of her own life. There's nothing preachy or smug about her stance. Instead, it's an inspiring reminder of what we're all capable of if we put our minds to it." Marie Claire