JAMII FIDLER

About Jamii Fidler

Originally from Birmingham and now based in Devon, Jamii Fidler is an author and the founder of independent publisher Outfield Books.

Jamii began their career as a financial adviser before becoming disabled and having to take a different path. Writing provided a way to explore some of the issues that had become increasingly difficult to ignore, while also indulging two long-standing loves: zombies and football.

Jamii's debut novel, Dead-End Job, follows a zombie struggling to afford the medication she needs to remain human. Beneath its zombie premise is an allegory for the realities of living with type 1 diabetes and, more broadly, the American healthcare system, where the cost of essential medication can force people into impossible choices between staying alive and being able to afford the basics of everyday life. For Jamii, the absurdity of a zombie having to worry about healthcare bills is funny on the surface, but the reality it reflects is anything but.

Football has been equally important throughout Jamii's life. Having previously played professionally, Jamii was forced to leave the game around fifteen years ago because of financial pressures, a problem that remains all too familiar in women's football today. The experience left a lasting impression and helped shape the idea behind Outfield Books.

Founded from a love of both football and reading, Outfield Books is an independent publisher with ambitions that extend beyond simply producing books. Jamii hopes to grow the company into a successful publishing house that can eventually help fund and support local women's football.

For now, Jamii is concentrating on their health while continuing to write and develop Outfield Books, with plans to expand the publisher in the near future.

Jamii writes darkly comic fiction that uses the ridiculous to explore very real problems. Zombies, football and publishing may seem like an unusual combination, but for Jamii they all come back to the same thing: telling stories about people trying to survive in systems that don't always make it easy.