Creative Advertising alumna becomes a bestselling author with HarperCollins UK debut novel

"Spending that year in Falmouth is one of the best things I've ever done for myself," says MA Creative Advertising alumna Caitlin Breeze, who has gone on to not only become a multidisciplinary marketing leader, delivering brand strategy and creative for brands such as The L'Oreal group, Penguin Books and Marie Curie, but is now a debut novelist and USA Today bestselling author.

Published earlier this year with HarperCollins UK, The Fox Hunt is a young adult fantasy novel which has been described as "elegantly marrying feminist fairytale with dark academia" by Imogen Russell Williams at The Guardian. It follows the story of Emma Curran, a naïve student who is ripped away from her mortal life and transformed into something beastly after dark magic spills through her university.

We caught up with Caitlin to learn more about the advice she has for aspiring authors, how Cornwall became her favourite place in the world and how "so much of what I draw on today as a novelist comes from the skills I built at Falmouth".

What drew you towards dark academia and did your time as a student at Falmouth help to support the academic setting of your novel in any way?

So much of dark academia is about the fantasy of belonging. There's something compelling about the image of stepping into a prestigious place and being changed by it: learning its rituals, absorbing its atmosphere, becoming part of something that feels larger and older than yourself. I think we all love the fantasy elements of the genre: the ancient libraries, the hidden societies, the secrets behind the glittering façades. But dark academia stories don't just glorify tradition: they pose questions about who these places exclude, and what price they exact in return for belonging.

I think the fairytale element is actually the true heart of The Fox Hunt. The book follows the Alice in Wonderland tradition of a heroine stepping into a strange new world with its own logic and laws, with odd creatures and surreal adventures. I also had great fun playing with the elements of Beauty and the Beast in the story: reversing the expected transformations and roles in the fairytale.

I think my time as a student at Falmouth had a lot more to do with supporting that fairytale element in the novel, rather than the dark academia of it all. I'm sure most people who've spent time in Cornwall will agree that being here feels like being closer to magic. So many of the joyous parts of my book - the adventures, the friendships and the sense of discovering a beautiful new place - are all parts that also come from my Falmouth experience!