Ruth Lauren
Ruth Lauren lives in the West Midlands in England with her family. When she isn’t writing, she’s almost certainly reading, playing D&D (badly) or falling down the rabbit hole of whatever she’s currently obsessed with.
Ruth’s acclaimed middle grade novel Prisoner of Ice and Snow was chosen by the American Booksellers’ Association as a top debut of the season, and its sequel Seeker of the Crown earned a starred Kirkus review.
Sarah Merrett
Sarah Merrett has worked as a librarian and bookseller. She was a finalist for Undiscovered Voices, came second place in Wells Book for Children competition, and was shortlisted for Searchlight Best Novel Opening Award, and longlisted for Bath Children’s Novel, Mslexia Children’s novel and WriteMentor children’s novel awards.
Piu DasGupta
Piu DasGupta was born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, with an English mother and Indian father. Her Bengali grandmother was a writer and her early childhood was spent surrounded by the sitar and Tagore songs.
Piu’s first literary work was a poem about a great flood in Kolkata that swamped the family’s home, forcing them to camp on the rooftop.
She now lives in Paris with her family, and writes across a wide range of genres including adult and children’s books and poetry.
Yorick Goldewijk
As a child, Yorick Goldewijk wanted to be a writer, illustrator and musician. He ended up pursuing a career as the latter, but he kept writing.
In 2022 he won the Gouden Griffel, the most important children’s literature prize in the Netherlands, for Films die nergens draaien (Movies Showing Nowhere). Yorick’s works range from picture books to young adult and are available in eleven countries. He lives and works in the Netherlands, close to the sea, together with his wife and two children.
Cathy Faulkner
Cathy Faulkner has taught and examined at schools, colleges and universities in Europe and Japan for over twenty years, and currently teaches English at Bristol University.
Besides writing, she loves musical theatre, playing various large bass instruments, making stained glass windows, and growing her own fruit and vegetables.
Her debut novel in verse aimed at middle-graders, Digging for Victory, was published by Firefly Press in May 2023;