Tom Becker won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2007 at the age of twenty-five with his first novel, Darkside. As well as further books in the Darkside series, Tom has written several standalone YA horror novels, including Dark Room for the Red Eye series from Stripes.
Holly Bourne writes YA novels and blogs about feminist issues. Her first two books, Soulmates and The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting, have been critically acclaimed and translated into six languages. Am I Normal Yet? was chosen as a World Book Night book for 2016 and shortlisted for The Bookseller YA Book Prize.
Sita Brahmachari was the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2011 for her debut novel Artichoke Hearts. Red Leaves was endorsed by Amnesty International and she scripted the stage adaptation for Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. She is Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants.
Kevin Brooks is the author of many critically acclaimed YA books. In 2015 his novel The Bunker Diary was the controversial winner of the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Brooks was previously shortlisted three times for the award, with Martyn Pig, The Road of the Dead and Black Rabbit Summer.
Melvin Burgess won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 1997 for Junk. Another four of his novels have been shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and in 2016 he was given a special achievement award by The Bookseller YA Book Prize to mark the twentieth anniversary of Junk’s first publication.
Katy Cannon is the author of books for teenagers and younger readers. Her YA debut, Love, Lies and Lemon Pies has been translated into eight languages and her forthcoming book, And Then We Ran, will be published by Stripes in 2017.
Cat Clarke worked as an editor and in-house writer before publishing her first novel, Entangled, in 2011 to critical acclaim. She is now a full-time author of gritty, gripping YA novels including Torn, Undone, A Kiss in the Dark and The Lost and the Found.
Tracy Darnton is the winning author of the Stripes YA Short Story Prize for her story ‘The Letter’. She recently graduated with distinction from the Bath Spa MA Writing for Young People and is working on her debut novel.
Juno Dawson – formerly known as James – is the multi-award-winning author of dark teen thrillers Hollow Pike, Cruel Summer, Say Her Name and Under My Skin. In 2015 she released her first contemporary romance, All of the Above, and in 2016 she authored World Book Day title Spot the Difference.
Julie Mayhew is an author, playwright and actress. Her debut novel, Red Ink, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award in 2014 and her critically acclaimed second novel, The Big Lie, was shortlisted for Peters Book of the Year and Shropshire Teenage Book of the Year. Julie’s latest novel is the Russian saga, Mother Tongue.
Non Pratt is author of the acclaimed Trouble, which was shortlisted for The Bookseller YA Book Prize and the Branford Boase Award, and Remix. After graduating from Trinity College Cambridge, she became a book editor at Usborne and now writes full-time.
Marcus Sedgwick won the Branford Boase Award in 2001 with his debut novel, Floodland. In 2007 My Swordhand Is Singing won the Booktrust Teenage Prize and in 2011 Lunatics and Luck won a Blue Peter Book Award. Marcus has been shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal six times.
Lisa Williamson won the Best Older Fiction category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2016 with her debut novel, The Art of Being Normal. It was also shortlisted for The Bookseller YA Book Prize and the Brandford Boase Award and was the bestselling YA hardback debut of 2015.
Benjamin Zephaniah is an internationally renowned performance poet and acclaimed author of bestselling YA novels Face, Gangsta Rap, Teacher’s Dead, Refugee Boy and Terror Kid. He has inspired a generation of rappers and performance poets and has been awarded sixteen honorary doctorates in recognition of his work.