Sharlene Teo is a Singaporean novelist and lecturer based in London. Her debut novel Ponti won the Deborah Rogers Writers' Award, was shortlisted for the Hearst Big Book Award and Edward Stanford Award, and longlisted for the Jhalak Prize. Her work has been translated into eleven languages and appeared in publications such as the Guardian, McSweeney's and Granta. She completed an MA in Prose Fiction and a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia.

She teaches creative writing at the University of Surrey and is an experienced course tutor. She holds fellowships from the David TK Wong Foundation, the University of Iowa International Writing Program, the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and the Vil·la Joana Residency.