Alumni profile - Eve Bolt

13 July 2026

Eve graduated from Queen Mary with a BA in English in 2017. Since then, she has built a diverse career across publishing, British Sign Language and healthcare regulation and is currently a Hearings Officer at the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Eve is also the author of A Thousand Pieces: Story, Time & Peter Pan (2026, Greenwich Exchange), which developed from her undergraduate dissertation and explores how the story of Peter Pan has evolved over time. 

Eve reflects on the experiences that shaped her during her time at Queen Mary, how her English degree prepared her for an eclectic career and what it was like transforming a dissertation into her first published book. She also shares her love of language, her writing process and her advice for current students.

 

What stands out most when you look back on your time at Queen Mary?

What impressed me most about Queen Mary was how expansive and experimental the English course was. This was due to the ways the professors taught the topic, drawing on history, philosophy, science and technology, making it feel incredibly dynamic.

I really felt the course gave me the opportunity to explore an extraordinary breadth of literature and ideas, from medieval texts through to Moby Dick. I can't think of a better way to have covered such a wide span of history in such a condensed time while encountering so many different ideologies and personalities.

This breadth was also reflected in the student community. I met so many wonderful people with different interests and perspectives, and many of those friendships have lasted ever since.

Outside my studies, being part of the Drama Society was a real highlight. We took my friend Sebastião Marques Lopes’ play Space Dogs to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where I played the Russian space dog Belka. It was such a fun and enriching experience.

I was also deputy editor of The Print, the Students' Union newspaper. I loved researching and writing features, particularly my column, QM I Spy, where I’d find unusual parts of campus and write about them, from the plaque commemorating the boxer Mendoza to the beautiful spherical sculpture in Library Square.

Were there any particular courses that stood out to you?

One that stood out to me was Architexts. The course was a real gym for the brain, covering thinkers such as Hegel, Marx, Engels and Nietzsche, alongside ideas from ontology, sociology and phenomenology. That philosophical approach gave me the confidence to be more experimental when writing A Thousand Pieces: Story, Time & Peter Pan. Rather than feeling constrained by what an academic non-fiction book should be, I felt free to develop my own style and let some of my personality come through.

How did your time at Queen Mary prepare you for your career?

The English degree gave me skills that have been useful in every role I've had since graduating.

Reading critically, researching thoroughly, editing carefully and communicating clearly became second nature. Those skills proved invaluable when I worked as a British Sign Language communication support worker, where precision and clarity were essential.

Later, while proofreading court judgments and tribunal decisions, I needed an eagle eye for detail. Studying English also gave me the stamina to tackle large amounts of reading, sometimes on subjects I'd never considered before, which has benefited me throughout my career.

Can you tell us about your career journey since graduating?

I started as a logger, which is essentially the first stage of transcription for healthcare regulation tribunal hearings. It was a really good job to have while I was studying because it was so flexible.

From there, I moved into an administrative role within the same transcription company, assisting clients by locating specific sections of audio. I also set up the company's translation and interpretation department, which involved a lot of research. It was really exciting to establish a new service, working with interpreters and translators and expanding what we could offer clients.

I also proofread transcripts for courts. This was very eye-opening because you really gain an insight into the extremes of human nature when working in that area of law.

At the time, my real passion was becoming a British Sign Language interpreter, so I moved into freelance communication support work. Then lockdown happened, making freelance interpreting more difficult. Through a Queen Mary classmate, Dr Abbie Jukes, I was introduced to my now publishers and began freelancing for them. Initially, I helped them with research on foreign rights and new writers. They asked to read my undergraduate dissertation, and suggested turning it into a book, which was a lovely surprise (I did have to combat some serious imposter syndrome at this point!). Today, I work as a Hearings Officer at the Health and Care Professions Council while continuing to write when I can.

How did your dissertation develop into your first book?

I went back to my dissertation and rearranged it like a whole new jigsaw. I found threads I wanted to pull more and parts I wanted to drop. Quite some time had passed since graduating so my writing style had changed. As I developed my voice, I became more confident and economical. 

Turning it into a book involved a lot of patience on the publisher’s part as well as my own. Life happened, as it does, during the process. There were bereavements along with health matters, moving house, having a child, starting a new job and so on. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for those life experiences, as I feel they enriched the book. Any new experience is valuable when you’re creating something, as it gives you new perspectives. 

I was diagnosed with M.E./C.F.S. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) in my teens. Whilst not without its challenges, this condition has meant I approach life very conscious of how to pace myself and what elements I need to put on pause or stop to achieve something. I absolutely don’t get this right all the time. I very much view this book as the result of team effort as my incredible family, partner, friends and publisher have supported me every step of the way.

What is your new book, A Thousand Pieces: Story, Time & Peter Pan, about?

It's a non-fiction academic study of Peter Pan. My central thesis is that the strongest stories, the ones with the capacity for immortality, are those that can change, with that germ or gene that enables them to evolve.

Peter Pan is the book's case study and a perfect example of this because J.M. Barrie constantly tinkered with and reworked the character and stories throughout his lifetime. Peter first appeared as we recognise him in The Little White Bird (1902), before extracts became Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Ideas about the character in these early works are directly contradicted in the later, more familiar versions: the 1904 play and the 1911 novel. For example, Peter can talk to birds in The Little White Bird but in Barrie’s film scenario, he cannot.

The play was never intended to be fixed. For Barrie, rehearsal was not about solidifying the story but liberating new meanings. That sense of play, both as a dramatic form and as creativity, imagination and make-believe, is integral to Peter Pan. The form and the content speak to one another, making it the perfect story about a character who wants to remain a child forever.

The strongest stories are those that have the capacity to evolve.

What do you hope those reading your book take away from it?

I hope people take the whimsy of Barrie's stories, and children's literature and fantasy more broadly, more seriously. Children's literature is something of a misnomer: it isn't generally written by children, but by adults like Barrie, C.S. Lewis and Beatrix Potter, whose relationships with children often informed their work.

We have a habit of dismissing the childish, yet children possess an imagination, creativity and sincerity that adults often lose. As a parent, watching my toddler find magic in the mundane has reminded me of that. Children's literature is as much for the inner child in adults as it is for children.

I hope the book encourages people to enjoy the literature they love, without feeling it has to be what others deem lofty or worthy. Peter Pan, like many fairy tales, is far darker, stranger and magical in its original form than many people realise. For many, the Disney film is their first point of reference, but this book aims to illuminate Barrie's original works and show how mystical, fun and enlightening it can be for adults and children alike.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I simply love words. I love their musicality, their mutating meanings, the spells they can cast in the stories they tell. Writing is the place where I feel I can be most myself.

I probably enjoy the editing process more than the writing process. The first draft is always tangled, but revising it, improving ideas and finding exactly the right words is incredibly satisfying.

You can't self-edit in real life in the same way you can in writing or art. Through writing, you can present yourself and your ideas as you want to, as best you can. I'm quite an intense person, so writing gives me an outlet and a justification to be passionate about something.

I simply love words. I love their musicality, their mutating meanings and the spells they can cast.

What advice would you give to current students?

I would encourage current students to take every opportunity to pick the brains of their professors, those incredibly knowledgeable, disciplined people doing such important work, and not to be afraid to ask questions.

Don't ever feel your ideas have less value simply because you're an undergraduate. English, like many disciplines, thrives on interpretation and discussion. When you're brave enough to introduce your ideas into a conversation, you never know what or who you might inspire. People may respond with more informed arguments, but that's a gift because it gives you the chance to learn.

About A Thousand Pieces: Story, Time & Peter Pan

A Thousand Pieces: Story, Time & Peter Pan is published by Greenwich Exchange, an independent literary house. The book is available through the Greenwich Exchange website, as well as via online retailers including Waterstones, Foyles and Blackwell’s.

Eve also hopes readers will discover the connection between Peter Pan and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). 

In 1929, J.M. Barrie gifted the rights to Peter Pan to the hospital. In 1988, the House of Lords made a unique amendment to the UK’s Copyright, Designs & Patents Act, granting GOSH a royalty from Peter Pan in perpetuity. This legacy continues to support seriously ill children and their families.

Alongside the book, Eve is fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH):
https://www.justgiving.com/page/a-thousand-pieces-eve-bolt

Donations are separate from book sales, and every contribution helps fund GOSH’s work in care and research.

The Chicken & Frog Bookshop where the launch took place: Dr Natasha Radford and her husband Jim share a real passion for books and are committed to providing a community-centered bookshop in the heart of Brentwood. The shop stocks all kinds of wonderful books, hosts storytimes and sensory sessions, and has a fully stocked neurodiversity room supporting children and adults. Although it began as a children’s bookshop, they now stock a curated selection of books for adults and can order pretty much anything that’s in print.