Josh Silver (author)


Josh Silver is a British author. He is a former actor and mental health nurse. His debut novel, HappyHead, the first in a dystopian duology of young adult fiction books, was shortlisted for the 2024 YA Book Prize, nominated for the 2024 Carnegie Medal for writing and named an Amazon Best YA book of 2023. The sequel, Dead Happy, was published in the UK on 2 May 2024. The series published by Delacorte at Penguin Random House in the USA in autumn 2024. The screen rights were acquired by actor Taron Egerton and Range Media Partners in a highly competitive auction pre-publication. Silver's third YA book, TraumaLand, a standalone psychological thriller, was published on 8 May 2025 in the UK. The same book is scheduled for publication in the United States and Canada by Penguin Random House under the title Erase Me.
Silver's debut adult novel, Fruit Fly, in which a wealthy author consumed by writer's block stalks a young gay addict and sex worker in pursuit of a book deal, will publish April 23 2026.
It was named as one of the BBC's 12 must-reads for 2026.

Biography

Silver grew up on a farm in the Lake District and moved to Manchester when he was a teenager. He attended RADA at the age of 18. After appearing on Broadway, and in the West End, he later retrained as a mental health nurse and began writing at the same time.

Awards and accolades

TitleYearAwardResult
HappyHead2024YA Book PrizeShortlisted
HappyHead2024Carnegie Medal for WritingNominated
HappyHead2023Amazon YA Book of the YearNamed
HappyHead2025Massachusetts Teen Choice AwardShortlisted
HappyHead2023Irish Independent on Sunday Book of the YearNamed
HappyHead2024Amazing Book AwardGold Medal Winner
HappyHead2024Spellbinding Book AwardWinner
HappyHead2024Cheshire Book AwardWinner
HappyHead2024Spark Book AwardShortlisted
HappyHead2024Book Alert AwardWinner
HappyHead2024WMAT Book AwardWinner
HappyHead2024North East Teen Book AwardWinner
HappyHead2024Beaumont Book AwardWinner
TraumaLand / Erase Me2025A Waterstones YA Book of the YearNamed
TraumaLand / Erase Me2026Carnegie Medal for WritingNominated
TraumaLand / Erase Me2025The Observer Best YA books of 2025Named