Anne Fine read Politics and History at Warwick and then became a teacher. Her first novel was published in 1975 and today she is one of the UK's most successful children's writers.

She has won many awards including two Carnegie Medals, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Whitbread Prize. Goggle-Eyes was serialised on TV and Madame Doubtfire was made into a hit Hollywood movie.

Anne lives in County Durham.

Alan Garner was born and still lives in Cheshire, an area which has had a profound effect on his writing and provided the seed of many ideas worked out in his books. His fourth book, The Owl Service brought Alan Garner to everyone's attention.

It won two important literary prizes – The Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal – and was made into a serial by Granada Television. It has established itself as a classic and Alan Garner as a writer of great distinction.

Linda wrote her first novel during the summer holidays from her job as a secondary school teacher. Now a critically acclaimed full-time author, Linda has written over twenty novels, been shortlisted twice for the Carnegie Medal, and is the winner of a Silver Medal Nestle Children’s Book Prize and the Costa Children’s Book Award.

Linda does much of her work in her writing hut in her garden but is often distracted by her own furry feline friends...

Berlie Doherty has written many books for young people and has twice won the Carnegie Medal – for Granny Was a Buffer Girl and Dear Nobody.

Her other titles include Spellhorn, Daughter of the Sea, Willa and Old Miss Annie (Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) and the anthology Tales of Wonder and Magic. She also writes poetry and plays.

She lives in Yorkshire.

Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain’s bestselling and most beloved children’s authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold.

As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.

Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings.

Highly-respected poet Tony Mitton has written many titles for children, including the picture books illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees: Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaurumpus!, Down by the Cool of the Pool, Spookyrumpus (winner of the Sheffield Book Prize, the Dundee Book Award and the Portsmouth Book Award) and Jolly Olly Octopus among many others.

In 2014 Tony won the prestigious CLPE Poetry Award for his retelling of Wayland. Tony spends his time writing, giving poetry performances and visiting primary schools. He lives in Cambridge.

Malorie Blackman has written over seventy books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series, Thief and a science-fiction thriller, Chasing the Stars.

Many of her books have also been adapted for stage and television, including a BAFTA-award-winning BBC production of Pig-Heart Boy and a Pilot Theatre stage adaptation by Sabrina Mahfouz of Noughts & Crosses. There is also a major BBC production of Noughts & Crosses, with Roc Nation (Jay-Z’s entertainment company) curating the soundtrack as executive music producer.

In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature, and between 2013 and 2015 she was the Children’s Laureate.

Most recently Malorie wrote for the Doctor Who series on BBC One, and the fifth novel in her Noughts & Crosses series, Crossfire, was published by Penguin Random House Children’s in summer 2019.

Gillian Cross is perhaps best known for her Demon Headmaster series and its BBC adaptation.

She has won many of the most prestigious awards for children’s fiction, including the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children’s Book Award and the Smarties Prize.

She lives near Coventry with her husband.