Clare Furniss
Furniss grew up in London, and moved to Birmingham in her teens. After brief stints as a waitress, a shop assistant, and working at the Shakespeare Centre Library in Stratford-upon-Avon, she studied at Cambridge and Aberdeen. She went on to work in media relations for the homelessness charity Shelter and spent several years as a press officer for the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. She now lives in Bath.
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Patrice Lawrence
Patrice Lawrence is a British writer and journalist, who has published fiction both for adults and children. Her writing has won awards including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Older Children and The Bookseller YA Book Prize.
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Sita Brahmachari
Sita was born in Derby in 1966, to an Indian doctor from Kolkata and an English nurse from the Lake District. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Arts Education. Her many projects and writing commissions have been produced in theatres, universities, schools and community groups throughout Britain and America. ARTICHOKE HEARTS is her first novel for young people. Sita lives and works in North London with her husband, three children and a temperamental cat.
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Tia Fisher
I’m an author from south-east England, writing from middle-grade to YA in prose and verse. I love exploring important issues: writing gritty, realistic fiction for young people; accessible fiction that opens conversations.
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Crossing the Line, my debut teen verse novel about a boy who gets caught up in county lines drug exploitation, won the 2024 Carnegie Shadowers’ Medal, the 2024 UKLA prize, was in the 2024 Read for Empathy collection and was one of The Times and Sunday Times’ best children’s books of 2024.
Grab yourself an early read of Not Going to Plan, a YA verse novel about teenage sexuality, consent, and the right to make choices without shame or blame. https://lnk.to/NotGoingToPlan -
Sophie Cameron
Sophie Cameron is the author of several novels for teens and young adults. Her books have been shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, the UKLA Book Awards, the Polari Children's & YA Prize and the Diverse Book Awards, among others, and won a Leeds Book Award in 2023. Originally from the Scottish Highlands, she now lives in Spain with her wife and their twin sons.
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Joseph Coelho
Joseph Coelho is a British poet and children's book author who was elected Children's Laureate in 2022.
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Zillah Bethell
Zillah Bethell was born in a leprosy hospital in Papua New Guinea, spent her childhood barefoot playing in the jungle, and didn't own a pair of shoes until she came to the UK when she was eight. She was educated at Oxford University and now lives in Wales with her family.
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Zillah has written three adult novels (SEAHORSES ARE REAL / LE TEMPS DES CERISES / GIRL IN PROFILE) and three children's novels (THE SHARK CALLER / A WHISPER OF HORSES / THE EXTRAORDINARY COLOURS OF AUDEN DARE) -
Matt Goodfellow
Matt Goodfellow was a primary school teacher for more than ten years before becoming a full-time poet and author. Shu Lin’s Grandpa is his first book with Candlewick Press. He lives with his wife and children in Manchester, England.
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Sarah Crossan
Sarah Crossan is Irish. She graduated with a degree in Philosophy and Literature before training as an English and Drama teacher at Cambridge University and worked to promote creative writing in schools before leaving teaching to write full time.
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She completed her Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Warwick in 2003 and in 2010 received an Edward Albee Fellowship for writing.
She currently lives in NYC. -
Elle McNicoll
Hey, I'm Elle. I'm Scottish, autistic and an author/screenwriter who is really bad at logging her reading choices.
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I write about autistic girls finding out who they are and what makes them happy, because I'm an autistic girl trying to find out who she is and what makes her happy.
I don't read reviews, as they are for readers, but I'm grateful to any and everyone who engages with my work, on the page or on the screen. My Young Adult Romance debut is called Some Like It Cold in it will be published on the 3rd of October. Official professional shiz below:
Elle McNicoll is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, as well -
Lesley Parr
Lesley Parr grew up in South Wales and now lives in England with her husband and their rescue cat, Angharad. She shares her time between writing stories, teaching at a primary school and tutoring adults. Apart from books, rugby union is her favourite thing in the world, especially if Wales is winning. Lesley graduated with distinction from Bath Spa University's MA in Writing for Young People. The Valley of Lost Secrets is her first novel.
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Tess James-Mackey
After growing up in rural Shropshire, Tess set out to explore the world and find her place in it. She quickly rushed straight back to Shrewsbury when she realised she'd been where she belonged from the start. She now lives in a quiet suburb with a noisy partner and daughter, two extremely noisy cats, and a less noisy tortoise.
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She spent years mucking out and getting trampled on by horses, before finally deciding she might prefer a less precarious office job. Between analysing insurance risk, she writes teens into terrifying situations inspired by her lived experiences.
When she's not allowing her mind to wander to dark and twisty places, she pursues more wholesome activities, like growing mediocre vegetables in her garden, camping with her da -
Liz Hyder
Liz Hyder is a writer and creative workshop leader. In early 2018, she won The Bridge Award/Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Award. Her debut novel for young adults, Bearmouth, was named The Times Children's Book of the Year in 2019, won the Waterstones Children's Book for Older Readers 2020 and the Branford Boase Award 2020. It was also shortlisted for the UKLA Awards and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her debut book for adults, The Gifts, published in hardback in February 2022 (UK and Commonwealth). Originally from London, she now lives in South Shropshire in a small medieval market town surrounded by hills, books and plants.
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Candy Gourlay
Candy Gourlay was born in the Philippines, grew up under a dictatorship and met her husband during a revolution. She had many adventures as a journalist in Asia, including visiting North Korea in 1987. Then she moved to the UK and found herself writing news about toilet paper, toothpaste and bleach. She pivoted to writing books for children and young adults and was published after nine years of rejection. Her books have been nominated for major prizes in Europe, including the Carnegie, the Guardian Prize, the Costa and the Nero Book Award. She has won the National Children’s Book Award of the Philippines twice and the Crystal Kite Prize for Europe twice. Her first novel Tall Story was selected as one of the ‘100 Best Books of the Last 100 Y
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Margaret McDonald
Margaret McDonald is a Scottish author from Glasgow. She has been published in various poetry and prose magazines, including The Manifest Station, In Parentheses, Breath and Shadow, and Bandit Fiction. She is a first-generation university student and holds an MLitt in English Literature with distinction (Glasgow University) and a first class B.A Honours in Creative Writing with English Literature (Strathclyde University). She writes about the working class experience, the student experience, and the Scottish healthcare system as a former NHS employee and disabled author. Glasgow Boys is her debut.
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Ashley Hickson-Lovence
Ashley Hickson-Lovence was born in London in 1991 and is a former secondary school English teacher with a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of East Anglia. His debut novel, The 392, was released in April 2019 and his second novel, Your Show, was released in April 2022. His third book, a YA-in-verse called Wild East, is released with Penguin in May 2024.
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Gavin Extence
Gavin Extence was born in 1982 and grew up in the interestingly named village of Swineshead, Lincolnshire. From the ages of 5-11, he enjoyed a brief but illustrious career as a chess player, winning numerous national championships and travelling to Moscow and St Petersburg to pit his wits against the finest young minds in Russia. He won only one game.
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Gavin is currently working on his second novel. When he is not writing, he enjoys cooking, amateur astronomy and going to Alton Towers. -
Mel Darbon
Mel Darbon spent a large part of her childhood inventing stories to keep her autistic brother happy on car journeys. She won’t mention the time spent with him standing by level crossings waiting for the InterCity 125 to go past as she wouldn’t want to be labelled a train spotter.
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Life took her in many different directions working as a theatre designer, a freelance artist, teaching young adults with learning disabilities and running creative workshops for teenage mums, young offenders and toddlers (though not all together).
Mel now writes young adult novels and is a recent graduate of Bath Spa’s MA in Writing For Young People, where she found a channel to give voice to young people who otherwise might not be heard. -
Benjamin Ludwig
Benjamin Ludwig is a school librarian and a reviewer for School Library Journal. He is the author of Ginny Moon, published by HarperCollins | Park Row Books in 2017. The book, inspired by his experience adopting a teenager with special needs, was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and one of Amazon.com’s 20 Best Books of 2017. To date it has been published in 19 countries.
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Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock was born and raised in Alaska. She worked many years fishing commercially with her family and as a reporter for Alaska Public Radio stations around the state. She was also the host and producer of “Independent Native News,” a daily newscast produced in Fairbanks, focusing on Alaska Natives, American Indians, and Canada’s First Nations. Her writing is inspired by her family’s four generations in Alaska.
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Kelly McCaughrain
Kelly was born in Belfast in 1977 and grew up in nineteenth-century Avonlea. She doesn’t remember much about her (probably very nice) childhood and suspects this is because she wasn’t paying attention. She was reading Anne of Green Gables.
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She started writing when she was six.
She started hiding her writing when she was seven.
She was forced out of the writing closet when she was 35. One of her favourite activities is talking to teenagers about writing because she was too shy to do this when she was young.
She studied at Queens University Belfast, where she did two degrees. For fun. She currently lives with her husband Michael and their ancient VW campervan Gerda.
Her first novel, Flying Tips for Flightless Birds, has been described by insiders -
Brian Conaghan
Brian Conaghan lives and works in the Scottish town of Coatbridge. He has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow, and worked as a teacher for many years. His novel When Mr Dog Bites was shortlisted for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal. The Bombs That Brought Us Together won the 2016 Costa Children’s Book Award, The Weight of a Thousand Feathers won the 2018 Irish Book Award for Teen/YA Book of the Year, and We Come Apart, a verse novel co-authored with Carnegie Medal-winner Sarah Crossan, won the 2018 UKLA Book Award. Cardboard Cowboys, Brian’s first middle-grade novel, published in 2021 and is full of his trademark heart, humour and crackling dialogue. Swimming on the Moon is his second middle-grade novel. @Con
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Rachel Delahaye
Rachel Delahaye writes children's fiction. Her teen sci-fi, Electric Life was longlisted for the 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, and her upper middle-grade eco thriller Day of the Whale was nominated for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie.
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Her catalogue includes a middle-grade series called Mort the Meek - a dark and gruesome comedy, described as 'Pratchetesque' by The Guardian, an animal adventure series published by Little Tiger, and a three-book comedy series, Jim Reaper, published with Piccadilly Press.
There are more middle grade and teen projects on the horizon. Rachel also writes fiction and poetry for accelerated reading schemes and Level Readers to help children gain reading confidence. -
Piu DasGupta
Piu DasGupta is the author of dark, twisty, Gothic books of fiction for children, teens, and adults.
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Her debut Middle Grade novel, SECRETS OF THE SNAKESTONE, is released on 14th March 2024 with Nosy Crow.
Piu lives in Paris, France, with her family and two cats. -
Nicholas Bowling
Nicholas Bowling is an author, stand-up comic, musician, and Latin teacher from London. He graduated from Oxford University in 2007 with a BA in Classics and English, and again in 2010 with a Masters in Greek and Latin Language and Literature, before moving to his first teaching job at Trinity School, Croydon. While writing Witchborn, he also performed a solo show at the Edinburgh festival, and has co-written, recorded and released an album and two EPs with soul-folk singer Mary Erskine, Me For Queen. Witchborn is his debut novel.
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Alastair Chisholm
Alastair is an award-winning children's author and puzzle creator. He's the author of the sci-fi middle-grade adventures ORION LOST and ADAM-2 , and children's picture books THE PRINCE AND THE WITCH AND THE THIEF AND THE BEARS and INCH AND GRUB, as well as books of Sudoku, Kakuro and other puzzles, including the Kids' Book of Sudoku and Kids' Book of Kakuro series.
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Alastair lives in Edinburgh with his wife (who is lovely), two children (who are lovely but very loud), and a cat who is yowling at him even though there is clearly food in her bowl, look, it’s right there, *look*.
You can follow him on Twitter at @alastair_ch -
Alexia Casale
Shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. Longlisted for The Branford Boase Award. A Book of the Year 2013 for the Financial Times and Independent.
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A British-American citizen of Italian heritage, Alexia is an author, editor and writing consultant. She also teaches English Literature and Writing.
After an MA in Social & Political Sciences (Psychology major) then MPhil in Educational Psychology & Technology, both at Cambridge University, she took a break from academia and moved to New York. There she worked on a Tony-award-winning Broadway show before returning to England to complete a PhD and teaching qualification. In between, she worked as a West End script-critic, box-office manager for a music festival and executive editor of -
Abena Eyeson
PhD educated Abena Eyeson was born in Ghana but has lived in England since she was a child.
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In July 2025, RUNNING MY OWN RACE, her debut middle grade novel, was published by Nosy Crow in the UK. Centred around eleven year old Kofi, it's a story about family, friendship, gaining courage and going for your dreams.
In 2021, she completed the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. In the same year, she became a Faber Children’s FAB Prize Commended Text winner and was longlisted for the Jericho Prize for one of her picture books. She was longlisted for the TLC Pen Factor in 2022 and was added to the Oxford University Press’ (OUP) Primary Literacy list as a potential author. Her first book for OUP Primary, Our Family Farm, was published in 2024.
In -
A.F. Harrold
A.F. Harrold is an English poet. He writes and performs for adults and children, in cabaret and in schools, in bars and in basements, in fields and indoors. He was Glastonbury Festival Website's Poet-In-Residence in 2008, and Poet-In-Residence at Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2010. He won the Cheltenham All Stars Slam Championship in 2007 and has had his work on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3 and BBC7. He is active in schools work, running workshops and slams and doing performances at ungodly hours of the morning, and has published several collections of poetry. He is the owner of many books, a handful of hats, a few good ideas and one beard
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Sharna Jackson
Sharna Jackson is a best-selling author and curator who specialises in developing and delivering socially-engaged initiatives for children and young people across culture, publishing and entertainment.
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Her debut novel High-Rise Mystery (2019) won numerous awards and accolades including Best Book for Younger Readers at the 2020 Waterstones Book Prize and Sunday Times Book of the Week. The sequel, Mic Drop, was released in 2020. Sharna also develops books to encourage participation in the arts, with two activity books released with Tate in 2014 (which won the FILAF award for Best Children’s Art Book in 2015) and Black Artists Shaping the World in 2021. She was Southbank Centre’s Imagine A Story Author in 2019/20 creating London/Londoff with o -
Julian Sedgwick
Julian Sedgwick is a writer of many books for children, including the Mysterium trilogy, the Ghosts of Shanghai trilogy, and the graphic novel Dark Satanic Mills, cowritten with his brother, Marcus Sedgwick, and illustrated by John Higgins and Marc Olivent. Julian Sedgwick lives in England.
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Sharada Keats
Born in Kalgoorlie in 1982, Sharada loves poetry, nature, reading, writing, electricity, hot running water, petrichor, a certain degree of cliché, and circumstances that ensure young people can enjoy basic human rights, be nurtured, and grow old happily and healthily. She feels strongly that people of all ages deserve a wider variety of stories and storytellers. Sharada grew up in Australia and Canada, with parents from Guyana and Yorkshire – influences that still shape her writing. She studied agricultural economics in university, and has spent many years working in the third sector. Sharada now lives with her partner, two young children, and ancient old cat in London, UK.
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