Allegra Huston

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Allegra Huston
Born (1964-08-26) 26 August 1964 (age 61)
London, England
Occupation
  • Author
  • editor
  • writer
NationalityBritish
American
Period2009–present
GenreNonfiction
Notable worksLove Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found
Children1
Parents Enrica Soma (mother)
John Huston (adoptive father)
John Julius Cooper (biological father)
Relatives
Website
www.allegrahuston.com

Allegra Huston (born 26 August 1964) is a British-American author, editor, and writer based in Taos, New Mexico.

Contents

She is the author of Write What You Don't Know (with James Navé), the book of the Imaginative Storm creative writing method; Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found, and the novel A Stolen Summer (Say My Name in hardback); as well as How to Edit and Be Edited and How to Read for an Audience (with James Navé).

She is also the screenwriter and producer of the short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski [1] , and producer of the upcoming short film Why Am I?

Early life and family

Allegra Huston was born to ballerina Enrica Soma Huston and John Julius Norwich, 2nd Viscount Norwich, a British historian and writer. [2] After her mother’s death in a car accident when Huston was four years old, she was raised in Ireland and Los Angeles by film director John Huston, her mother’s estranged husband. [2]

She is part of the extended Huston family of artists and writers: actor/director Anjelica Huston, writer Tony Huston, actor/director Danny Huston, and actor/writer/director Jack Huston. Her paternal siblings are writer Artemis Cooper, and architect and writer Jason Cooper. [3]

Career

Writing and publishing

She hold a First Class Degree in English Language and Literature from Hertford College, Oxford and spent 9 years in publishing in the UK, as Editor at Chatto & Windus and her last four years as Editorial Director at Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Books edited by Huston include Jane Goodall's Through a Window, Robert Conquest's biography of Stalin, and Juliet Barker's The Brontes. [4]

She also worked for two years at Pathé in London as development and acquisition consultant (1994-97) As an editor she has worked with 3 booker prize winners and 2 nobel prize winners. [5]

Her memoir, Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found (2009), explores her complex family history and upbringing and was critically well received. [6] Her first novel, Say My Name, was published by HarperCollins. [7]

In addition to books, Huston has written personal essays and commentary on relationships, family life, and emotional honesty. A widely read essay published in You Magazine (Daily Mail) in 2017 examined the emotional impact of separation, parenting, and the challenges of sustaining family life, drawing on her own experiences.

Huston is a long-time creative writing teacher and workshop leader. She has taught at institutions and literary programs including the OSLEP program at the University of Oklahoma, the National University of Ireland, Galway, and the Taos Writers Conference. [4]

She also leads an annual memoir workshop in Nova Scotia.

Together with poet and educator James Navé, Huston co-founded the Imaginative Storm writing method and co-authored the book and online course Write What You Don’t Know. The approach emphasizes intuition, embodied writing, imagination, and emotional authenticity over prescriptive rules. [8]

Huston and Navé regularly offer online workshops, in-person intensives, and multi-day writing retreats, focusing on voice, narrative momentum, character development, and creative confidence. [9]

Film and other work

Huston wrote the award-winning short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski. Her creative work spans memoir, fiction, film, and teaching. [10]

Personal

Personal life

Huston has lived for many years in Taos, New Mexico, where she raised her son Rafael Patrick Gerónimo Niño de Ortíz Ladrón de Guevara . His father is Cisco Guevara, legendary river rafter and professional storyteller. [11]

She holds British and American citizenship and has written about the experience of navigating identity, family, and belonging across countries. [12]

Published works

References

  1. Imaginative Storm (2 October 2023). Good Luck, Mr. Gorski - A short film about the benefits of moon travel for those on earth . Retrieved 21 January 2026 via YouTube.
  2. 1 2 Huston, Allegra (4 June 2011). "Secrets and Lies: Life as a Hollywood Love Child". The Independent. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  3. James, Caryn. "Allegra, John and Anjelica Huston: Why Allegra's Fab Hollywood Memoir Speaks to Us". HuffPost.
  4. 1 2 Reed, Jon (19 July 2021). "MASTERCLASS: How to Write a Memoir - with Allegra Huston". Publishing Talk. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  5. "Allegra Huston to Teach at Huston Film School | The Irish Film & Television Network". www.iftn.ie. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  6. 1 2 Hart, The Sunday Times review by Christopher (12 April 2009). "Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found by Allegra Huston". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  7. "Book Launch: Say My Name by Allegra Huston — in conversation w/ Joan Juliet Buck - POWERHOUSE Arena". 21 December 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  8. "Allegra Huston | Sayle Screen". saylescreen.com. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  9. "The Creators of Imaginative Storm, Allegra Huston and James Navé | Your Creative Champions". Imaginative Storm. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  10. Grady, Pam. "Allegra Huston has good luck with 'Mr. Gorski'". SF Gate.
  11. "'Love Child' memoir writer Allegra Huston talks about her two families". Los Angeles Times. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  12. Parris, Matthew (8 January 2011). "A new page in an old friendship". The Spectator. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  13. New Book Releases, Bestsellers, Author Info. & More at Simon & Schuster Archived 6 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine . Books.simonandschuster.com. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  14. Write What You Don't Know: 10 Steps to Writing with Confidence, Energy, and Flow. Twice 5 Miles. 27 November 2022.
  15. "How-to books offered by Huston and Navé". 13 November 2018.