Nikesh Shukla is a novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of Coconut Unlimited (shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award), Meatspace and the critically acclaimed The One Who Wrote Destiny. Nikesh is the editor of the bestselling essay collection, The Good Immigrant, which won the reader’s choice at the Books Are My Bag Awards. …
Alexandra Sheppard is a children’s author from North London. Her debut novel Oh My Gods was published by Scholastic and featured in Buzzfeed, Refinery29 and The Guardian’s Summer Reading List. Alex then wrote Fly High Crew in collaboration with the Banjo Brothers, which was published by Scholastic in April 2021 Happy Here, an anthology of …
Polly Ho-Yen used to be a primary school teacher in London and, while she was teaching there, she used to get up very early in the morning to write stories. The first of those stories is BOY IN THE TOWER. Her books have been shortlisted for, among others awards, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and …
Alake Pilgrim writes from the uncanny islands of Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, where people are connected to Africa, India, China, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, thanks to the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship, and an MA in Latin American …
Ebinehita Iyere founded Milk Honey Bees in 2017 as a creative and expressive safe space for young Black women and girls in South London. She is a passionate public speaker, mentor and advocate for young people across London, and is currently completing her PhD on the complexities and flaws in the education system as per …
Lizzie Huxley-Jones (they/them) is an autistic author and editor based in London. They are the author of the forthcoming queer holiday rom-com Make You Mine. This Christmas (2022) from Hodder Studio and fantasy middle grade series Vivi. Conway and the Sword of Legend (2023) from Knights Of. They write joyful stories that centre queerness and …
Sharna Jackson is an author and curator who specialises in developing and delivering socially-engaged initiatives for children and young people across culture, publishing and entertainment. Her debut novel High-Rise Mystery, released in 2019, has won numerous awards and accolades including Best Book for Younger Readers at the 2020 Waterstones Book Prize and Sunday Times Book …
Kelly Yang’s family immigrated from China when she was a young girl, and she grew up in California, in circumstances very similar to those of Mia Tang – helping her parents manage several motels. Her only sanctuary was the library, where she could immerse herself in the world of a book, and where the librarians …
Candice Carty – Williams is a writer and author of the Sunday Times bestselling Queenie. Queenie has been described as ‘vital’, ‘disarmingly honest’, and ‘boldly political’, and has been shortlisted for the Waterstones, Foyles and Goodreads Book of 2019, as well as selected as the Blackwell’s Debut of the Year. In 2016, Candice created and launched …
Born in Bangladesh, raised in Newcastle and currently residing in the outskirts of Manchester, Burhana Islam is a storyteller who is passionate about exploring themes of heritage, belonging, identity and faith in her work. She studied English Literature at Newcastle University before deciding to become a secondary school teacher, sharing her love for stories with …
