Alexi Francis author page

Alexi Francis biography

Alexi Francis is a British writer and illustrator whose work combines nature writing with pen-and-ink illustration and papercut art. She holds a BSc in Zoology and has taken part in wildlife surveys in the UK, Crete and Cambodia.

Her nature writing has appeared in the Spring, Summer and Autumn volumes of the Seasons anthologies, published by Elliott & Thompson in association with The Wildlife Trusts in 2016. Her work was also included in Creative Future’s 2015 anthology Impossible Things. Francis has self-published several illustrated nature-writing books and booklets, including Night Wood and If You Are Lost You May Be Taken.

The Waking Wood is Francis’s debut children’s picture book, which she both wrote and illustrated. It follows a young badger who becomes separated from his family while exploring a woodland at night and must find his way home. The story is presented through pen-and-ink woodland illustrations, layered papercut pages and lift-the-flap elements.

The Waking Wood is published in hardback by Big Picture Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, on 13 August 2026.