Jeanette Winterson, (born August 27, 1959, Manchester, England), British writer noted for her quirky, unconventional, and often comic novels.

Winterson was educated at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, and held various jobs while working on her writing. Her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985), won a Whitbread Award as that year’s best first novel. It concerns the relationship between a young lesbian and her adoptive mother, a religious fanatic. The Passion (1987), her second work, is a picaresque historical novel that chronicles the adventures of Villanelle, an enslaved Venetian woman who is rescued by Henri, a cook from Napoleon’s army. Attempting to reach Venice, the two travel through Russia in winter.

Her latest novel is The Battle of the Sun (2009), a childen's book which follows two other books for children, The King of Capri (2003) and Tanglewreck (2006).She also recently edited Midsummer Nights (2009), a collection of stories by contemporary writers inspired by opera, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Glyndebourne Festival of Opera; and wrote the children's thriller, Ingenious, for BBC Television. In 2009, The Lion, The Unicorn and Me was published - a children's story for Christmas.

Jeanette Winterson lives in Gloucestershire and London.