Our writers

Explore our writers who are available to hire for events in libraries and other venues.

Writers are categorised in genres below

If you are a writer and are interested in being added to our roster, please complete this form 

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Biography
Leslie Cavendish

Leslie Cavendish

Biography Leslie Cavendish was born in East London and grew up in a large Jewish family in Burnt Oak, North London. He was apprenticed to Vidal Sassoon in 1962, becoming a stylist in his own right three years later. He became Paul McCartney's private hairdresser in...

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Kathleen Jones

Kathleen Jones

Biography Born and brought up on a hill farm in the Lake District, educated at the Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton and then at Bristol University, Kathleen Jones spent several years in west Africa and the Middle East, where she worked in broadcast journalism,...

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Sahera Patel

Sahera Patel

Biography Sahera Patel is a 43-year-old female British Muslim, teacher and public speaker, born in Bolton and now living in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Her parents were originally from India, offering her a diverse experience of two cultures. She has a passion for her...

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Blogging
Jessica Davies

Jessica Davies

Biography I am Australian and a copywriter by trade and also dabble in more creative works. In 2011, I moved to Paris where I spent two years eating food and then writing about it. I am now based in Manchester where I spend my time creating copy for companies'...

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Chris Longden

Chris Longden

Biography Chris Longden was born, and grew up, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, UK. Her career has focussed on social housing and community development. She lived in Namibia, southern Africa for four years, where she gave birth to her first child whilst working with...

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Caroline Smailes

Caroline Smailes

Biography 'Caroline Smailes and Will Self are arch-experimentalists.' Observer Caroline Smailes' acclaimed debut novel, IN SEARCH OF ADAM, was published in 2007 (The Friday Project/HarperCollins). The Big Issue North declared the book 'an engrossing and touching read...

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Childrens
Simon Adepetun

Simon Adepetun

Biography I was born in Manchester on 1st July , 1970. I have a BA (hons) 2:1 in English and graduated as the best creative writer. I also have a post graduate degree in Theatre Studies from University of Manchester. I'm a Sales Manager by trade, married with three...

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Craig Bradley

Craig Bradley

​ Biography Craig Bradley (aka That Poetry Bloke) has been a professional children's poet since 2003.  He has visited over 1,500 schools and libraries and performed over 5,000 times including many children's and literary festivals.  Craig has appeared on CBeebies and...

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Steve Delaney

Steve Delaney

Biography Spook Teaching is a company that facilitates and performs creative literacy workshops, where we use the literacy curriculum and the Spook's narratives to deliver high quality reading, writing and drama activities. I and my colleagues  perform in character as...

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Andrew Glennon

Andrew Glennon

Biography Andrew Glennon was born in Liverpool, UK. For almost 30 years he worked around the world for large multi-national companies before deciding to burn the business suit, shirt and tie. His first book, "The Loneliest Robot" was released in 2017 and is a highly...

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Katy Jones

Katy Jones

Biography I grew up near Bristol and first came to Manchester as a student of English Literature, in 1996. After graduation I went on to work with adults with learning disabilities in the Manchester area for just over two years. During this period I began to write my...

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Jude Lennon

Jude Lennon

Biography Jude Lennon is a former Early Years teacher who now works as a Storyteller under the name Little Lamb Tales. She tells stories at Primary schools, community events, festivals and libraries. Jude is also an Amazon best selling children?s author and is the...

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Rachel Lyon

Rachel Lyon

Biography Based in St Helens, Merseyside, Rachel is a well-known author of rhyming picture books and early readers whose work has featured in the Summer Reading Challenge and as a Bedtime Story on CBeebies. Prior to becoming published in 2013 Rachel worked as a...

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Livi Michael

Livi Michael

Biography I was born near Manchester and still live there - it features in many of my books. I wanted to write from the age of seven. My first book (for adults) was about growing up on a council estate in Greater Manchester. My first books for children featured Frank...

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Rose Miller

Rose Miller

Biography I was born in Levenshulme, Manchester in 1943. My education began at St Andrew's School in Levenshulme, Manchester, and my secondary education was at Chorlton Central School. I left school when I was 15 and went to work in an insurance company in Manchester...

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Tom Palmer

Tom Palmer

Biography Tom Palmer has written books about football, fatherhood and reader development . Aimed at children and adults. He works across the UK (and beyond) to blend his role as a writer and a passionate promoter of reading and libraries. Full details are available on...

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Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Nii Ayikwei Parkes

​ Biography Nii Ayikwei Parkes is an author and performance poet who has performed on major stages across the world, including at The Royal Festival Hall and at a reading for the London Mayor's vigil on July 14, 2005 (in response to the London bombings). He is the...

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John Rice

John Rice

Biography John Rice is a poet, storyteller and photographer who has published 13 collections of poetry for both children and adults. He is a regular visitor to infant, primary, junior and secondary schools as well as libraries, festivals and arts centres. In 2015 he...

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Rhona Whiteford

Rhona Whiteford

Biography I was born in Manchester and have lived in Wigan for the past 40 years. I am a qualified teacher specialising in the primary age range but I am also qualified to teach other age groups and I have done many workshops for teachers, specialising in teaching...

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Contemporary fiction
Jenn Ashworth

Jenn Ashworth

​ Biography Jenn  has worked at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, rural branches and has managed a Prison Library Her writing career  includes a variety of online publications and a blog that won the Best Writing on a Blog Award at the 2008 Manchester Literary Festival....

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Yvonne Battle-Felton

Yvonne Battle-Felton

Biography Yvonne is an American writer living in Lancaster, UK. A writer of fiction and Creative Nonfiction, her writing has been published in riverSedge, Assisi, Not Somewhere Else But Here: A Contemporary Anthology of Women and Place, Welter, Slices, and The...

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Carys Bray

Carys Bray

Biography Her collection Sweet Home won the Scott Prize. Her first novel A Song for Issy Bradley was broadcast on BBC Radio Four.   Website www.carysbray.co.uk   Genre literary fiction- short stories and novels   Publications & Performance History Sweet Home (Salt...

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Amanda Brooke

Amanda Brooke

Biography Amanda Brooke is a Liverpool author whose first book, Yesterday's Sun was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick in 2012. She continues to write novels with strong themes surrounding motherhood and family relationships and, after thirty years in local government,...

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Robyn Cain

Robyn Cain

Biography Robyn moved to England from the Punjab in the 1960s. After spending her childhood in the South of England, she married and moved to the North, finally settling in Cheshire. She dreamed of being a writer but life had other plans. Now with a degree, PGCE and...

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Nigel Cartner

Nigel Cartner

Biography Born and raised in Manchester and heavily influenced by music, film and literature, I've aspired to work in and around the creative arts since my teenage years. It was only when I hit my late twenties that life took a fortunate turn and gave me the...

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Charmian Coates

Charmian Coates

Biography Charmian Coates, who lives in Blackpool, was born in Ilford, Essex, in 1937. She is a widow, with one of her four children, sadly deceased, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. In 1972, she left Oxford to run, alongside her late husband, Alan, a...

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Patricia Dixon

Patricia Dixon

Biography Patricia Dixon was born in Manchester where she still lives with her husband. They have two grown up children and one grandson, plus the company of a lazy bulldog. Ignoring her high school reports and possibly sound advice from teachers, Patricia shunned the...

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Sarah Dobbs

Sarah Dobbs

Biography Sarah Dobbs has a PhD in Creative Writing and has taught at Lancaster, Manchester, Blackburn, Edge Hill and The Open University. Her novel Killing Daniel was published by Unthank Books in November 2012. Previous work has been broadcast on the BBC, read at...

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John Donoghue

John Donoghue

Biography My creative career started in the 1980s, as a singer/songwriter with Liverpool band Jealous Heart. Since then, with a 25 year career in mental health behind me, with numerous articles published in a range of medical journals, I turned my hand to fiction and...

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Clare Dudman

Clare Dudman

Biography Clare's first novel was for children: EDGE OF DANGER which won the Kathleen Fidler award. Her second novel was for adults WEGENER'S JIGSAW which is a fictional autobiography based on the life of revolutionary scientist and arctic explorer Alfred Wegener and...

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Lyn Farrell

Lyn Farrell

Biography Lyn G Farrell is an award winning writer and academic, passionate about marginalised voices finding their rightful place in mainstream fiction. She grew up in Littleborough in the North West and after 30 years living in Leeds, is preparing to move back...

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Carol Fenlon

Carol Fenlon

Biography I have been writing for 20+ years, publishing many short stories in mainstream and small press magazines. My first novel, 'Consider the Lilies' won the Impress novel prize 2007 and was published by Impress books. It has recently been adapted for the stage by...

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Marc Gee

Marc Gee

Biography Originating from the Wirral, Marc has been writing for over twenty years. He has penned over twelve stage plays which have been performed at such venues as The Edinburgh Festival and The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. In 2001 he had a full...

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Ursula Holden Gill

Ursula Holden Gill

Biography Ursula Holden Gill is a one woman tour de force. An Award Winning Actress and familiar face on screen in recent years she has established herself as one of the most unique and pertinent talents on the British Storytelling Scene, working across the theatre,...

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Robert Graham

Robert Graham

Biography Robert Graham grew up in and around Belfast and has lived for a long time in Manchester. He is married with two children and teaches Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire. His short stories have appeared in a variety of magazines,...

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Charlotte Gringras

Charlotte Gringras

Biography BA in English and Languages, an MA in Jewish Studies, both from Manchester University. Qualified teacher,ages 7-16. Later, Interfaith Educator, and on Sacre (Standing Advisory Committee for religious education) in both Bolton and Trafford. Have taught...

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Katie Hale

Katie Hale

Biography Born in Cumbria, Katie's debut pamphlet, 'Breaking the Surface', was published by Flipped Eye in 2017. She recently won the Jane Martin Poetry Prize and the Buzzwords Poetry Competition, and is the winner of the 2018 Fool For Poetry Chapbook Competition with...

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Charles Heathcote

Charles Heathcote

Biography Charles Heathcote has always lived in Macclesfield and very rarely leaves. A Creative Writing graduate of MMU Cheshire and secretary to the Macclesfield Creative Writing Group, he is a writer of radio plays and prose with a penchant for the odd lyric.  ...

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Margaret Holbrook

Margaret Holbrook

Biography I live in Cheshire and I write mainly poetry, short stories and plays. I have had work published in several anthologies and magazines. In October 2012 my play, 'Soup for Starters' received an Honourable Mention at the Ovation Theatre Awards. In June 2013 my...

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Gaia Holmes

Gaia Holmes

Biography Gaia Holmes lives in Halifax. She's been a busker, a cleaner, a lolly-pop lady, a gallery attendant and an oral historian. She is currently an associate lecturer in Creative Writing at the university of Huddersfield and a free-lance writer. She has recently...

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Trevor Hoyle

Trevor Hoyle

Biography Trevor Hoyle was an advertising copywriter and presented an arts programme for Granada TV before becoming a full-time writer, mainly of novels, short stories and radio drama. Since the mid-seventies he has published fiction ranging from mainstream novels to...

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Sarah Jasmon

Sarah Jasmon

Biography I live on a boat on the Leeds/Liverpool canal, halfway between Wigan and Liverpool. My debut novel, THE SUMMER OF SECRETS (Black Swan), will be published by Transworld in August 2015.   Website www.sarahjasmon.com   Genre mystery/contemporary fiction  ...

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Gaynor Jones

Gaynor Jones

Biography I am a freelance writer based in Manchester. I specialise in short fiction. I am the recipient of the 2018 Mairtin Crawford Award and have also had work nominated for Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net. I am a regular performer at spoken word nights and...

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Kathleen Jones

Kathleen Jones

Biography Born and brought up on a hill farm in the Lake District, educated at the Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton and then at Bristol University, Kathleen Jones spent several years in west Africa and the Middle East, where she worked in broadcast journalism,...

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Katy Jones

Katy Jones

Biography I grew up near Bristol and first came to Manchester as a student of English Literature, in 1996. After graduation I went on to work with adults with learning disabilities in the Manchester area for just over two years. During this period I began to write my...

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Pete Kalu

Pete Kalu

Biography Pete Kalu is well known on the North West writing scene and beyond, as a novelist, storyteller, poet, and playwright. He started writing as a member of the Moss Side Write black writers workshop. Recent writing prizes include: Pants, (Winner, BBC/Contact...

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Calum Kerr

Calum Kerr

Biography Calum is a writer and academic working living in South Manchester. He is passionate about writing, reading and the liberation of words and loves to communicate this passion to the people around him. His PhD was a combination of creative writing and...

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Auto Draft

Biography Frederick Lightfoot lives and works in West Cumbria.Hhe was educated at Sussex University where he studied English and Drama. He has worked as a lecturer in English, Drama and Creative Writing. He has also worked as a qualified general and psychiatric nurse....

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Chris Longden

Chris Longden

Biography Chris Longden was born, and grew up, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, UK. Her career has focussed on social housing and community development. She lived in Namibia, southern Africa for four years, where she gave birth to her first child whilst working with...

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SE Lynes

SE Lynes

​ Biography Lecturer in creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College and author of three psychological thrillers: Valentina, Mother and the Pact, all available on Amazon   Genre Contemporary fiction, thrillers, crime   Publications & Performance...

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Kevin McCann

Kevin McCann

Biography Kevin McCann,Winner of the Booktrust's Writing Together Award 2006, a former teacher, is one of the North West's leading children's poets. Nationally recognised, he has an impressive record of delivering high-quality poetry workshops to schools and young...

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Martine McDonagh

Martine McDonagh

Biography Martine McDonagh writes accessible literary fiction. Her latest novel, Narcissism for Beginners, was longlisted for the 2017 Guardian Not The Booker Prize. Her first novel, I have waited, and you have come, set in Dunham Massey, Cheshire is now in its third...

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June McRea

June McRea

Biography After a long and enjoyable career in finance, June started writing after leaving full-time work to care for her elderly parents. June has always enjoyed holidays abroad and has visited the south of France several times. Her first novel, "Seasons of Change",...

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Cath Nichols

Cath Nichols

​ Biography Volunteer, mental health worker, waitress, ceramic artist, photographer, student, artists' model, journalist, broadcaster, club promoter, project manager, poetry promoter... What has stuck longest is being a writer   Genre Poetry And Fiction.  ...

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Susi Osborne

Susi Osborne

Biography Having worked in libraries for many years and always dabbled in writing, I only started to take it seriously later in life - and now I feel I have to run at all times to catch up! My first book was published ten years ago and this has been followed by a...

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Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Nii Ayikwei Parkes

​ Biography Nii Ayikwei Parkes is an author and performance poet who has performed on major stages across the world, including at The Royal Festival Hall and at a reading for the London Mayor's vigil on July 14, 2005 (in response to the London bombings). He is the...

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Hazel Robinson

Biography Hazel Robinson is the UK author of contemporary and new adult romance, uniquely blending tragedy and romance. She first began her journey with a passion for reading until one day a particular book struck Hazel so much she decided to write down a story that...

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Jenny Roche

Jenny Roche

Biography I've over 20 years successful experience of writing comedy material for radio, TV, theatre and performance and drama for radio and theatre. Publication credits include fiction for children and adults and news and feature articles for newspapers and magazines...

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Jane Rogers

Jane Rogers

Biography Jane has written seven novels and also writes for TV and radio. She is editor of OUP's GOOD FICTION GUIDE, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.She teaches Novel on the MA in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University.   Website   Genre...

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Lionel Ross

Lionel Ross

Biography Lionel Ross was born in 1935 and lives in Manchester, England with his wife Luise. He has two sons and six grandchildren. He originally worked in textiles but is now a full-time author and publisher. His first novel Fine Feathers, was originally published by...

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Caroline Smailes

Caroline Smailes

Biography 'Caroline Smailes and Will Self are arch-experimentalists.' Observer Caroline Smailes' acclaimed debut novel, IN SEARCH OF ADAM, was published in 2007 (The Friday Project/HarperCollins). The Big Issue North declared the book 'an engrossing and touching read...

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Copland Smith

Copland Smith

Biography - always small case, once a mathematician, is a poet, songwriter, playwright, essayist, Guardian letter-writer and writing teacher. Born in Liverpool 1953. Has lived in Wallasey, N Wales, Nigeria, Northants, Suffolk, Dorset and now Chorlton cum Hardy, Man...

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Collette Snowden

Collette Snowden

Biography Colette Snowden was born and raised in Manchester and studied medieval history in St Andrews and Bordeaux. After spending a year in Bulgaria teaching English, she returned to Manchester and began a career in public relations, developing her writing skills...

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Cath Staincliffe

Cath Staincliffe

Biography Cath Staincliffe is an award-winning novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV' s hit series Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis. Cath was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Best First Novel award for her acclaimed Sal Kilkenny...

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Suzie Tullett

Suzie Tullett

Biography I am an author of contemporary women's fiction and romantic comedy.My novels include Going Underground, Little White Lies and Butterflies, which was short-listed for The Guardian?s Not the Booker Prize, and The Trouble with Words, a tale about love, loss,...

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Zosia Wand

Zosia Wand

Biography Zosia Wand is an author and playwright. She was born in London and lives in Cumbria with her family. She is passionate about good coffee, cake and her adopted landscape on the edge of the Lake District. When she is not writing, Zosia runs workshops and...

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Robert Williams

Robert Williams

Biography Robert Williams grew up in Clitheroe, Lancashire and currently lives in Manchester. His first novel, Luke and Jon, won a Betty Trask Award, was translated into seven languages and called 'a hugely impressive debut' in the Daily Telegraph. He has worked in a...

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Crime
Martine Bailey

Martine Bailey

​Biography Martine lives in Chester and writes crime and mystery novels with a local flavour. She was inspired to write her debut, An Appetite for Violets, by a collection of 18th century recipes at Erddig Hall and then set out to follow in the steps of Georgian...

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Robert F Barker

Robert F Barker

Biography Born in Liverpool, England, Robert F Barker served thirty years as a police officer and detective, most of it working in and around some of the Northwest's grittiest towns and cities. He likes to write stories that are dark and edgy, but credible enough for...

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Kate Bendelow

Kate Bendelow

Biography I am a writer, poet and author of The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers. With over 15 years as a serving CSI, I have combined the passion of my job with my love for writing and have advised many crime writers on how they can add veracity and...

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Debbie Bennett

Debbie Bennett

Biography By day I'm a business intelligence analyst and IT developer for the police. By night I'm a crime writer ... Based in mid-Cheshire, I have published a dark gritty 6-book crime/thriller series, that's had some great reviews. The first book was long-listed for...

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Stephen Booth

Stephen Booth

​ Biography Stephen Booth was born in Burnley and grew up in Blackpool. After teacher training in Manchester and a career in local newspapers which started in Wilmslow, Cheshire, he launched his best-selling Cooper and Fry series in 2000. His two Derbyshire police...

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Jean Briggs

Biography I taught English in schools in Cheshire, Hong Kong and Lancashire. I now live in a cottage in Cumbria where I write the Charles Dickens Mysteries, featuring Dickens as an amateur detective teaming up with Superintendent Jones of Bow Street. I am a member of...

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Mick Browlee

Mick Browlee

Biography Author of acclaimed Kenya-based crime thrillers BAIT (2008) and BURN (2009). Former Fleet Street journalist now based in Cumbria.   Website http://nickbrownlee.co.uk/   Genre Crime/Thriller   Publications & Performance History BAIT...

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Robyn Cain

Robyn Cain

Biography Robyn moved to England from the Punjab in the 1960s. After spending her childhood in the South of England, she married and moved to the North, finally settling in Cheshire. She dreamed of being a writer but life had other plans. Now with a degree, PGCE and...

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Elisabeth Carpenter

Elisabeth Carpenter

Biography Elisabeth Carpenter is the author of 99 RED BALLOONS, published in 2017 by Avon HarperCollins. Her second novel, 11 MISSED CALLS, is out July 2018. Elisabeth lives in Preston, Lancashire with her family. She loves the north of England and sets most of her...

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M W Craven

M W Craven

​ Biography M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief...

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David Mark

David Mark

Biography David spent more than fifteen years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels. His first historical novel,...

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Anna Dean

Anna Dean

Biography Novelist and short story writer. I was born in Cumbria and have lived in the South Lakes for nearly thirty years. I've published an historical novel under my "real" name, Marian Veevers and, as Anna Dean, I write "cosy" mysteries featuring Dido Kent, an...

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Sarah Dobbs

Sarah Dobbs

Biography Sarah Dobbs has a PhD in Creative Writing and has taught at Lancaster, Manchester, Blackburn, Edge Hill and The Open University. Her novel Killing Daniel was published by Unthank Books in November 2012. Previous work has been broadcast on the BBC, read at...

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Ashley Dyer

Ashley Dyer

Biography Ashley Dyer is the pseudonym for novelist Margaret Murphyworking in consultation with policing and forensics expert, Helen Pepper. Margaret Murphy is a novelist, short story writer, reviewer, former Writing Fellow and Reading Round Lector for the Royal...

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Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards

Biography I am a British crime writer, and the author of eighteen crime novels, including series set in Liverpool and the Lake District. I've won the CWA Short Story Dagger and CWA Margery Allingham Prize, and my latest book, The Golden Age of Murder has won the...

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Kate Ellis

Kate Ellis

Biography Kate Ellis was born and brought up in Liverpool. Described by The Times as ?a beguiling author who interweaves past and present? she is best known for her DI Wesley Peterson series. She has been shortlisted for the CWA Short Story Dagger and for the CWA...

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Michael Ford

Michael Ford

Biography I'm a writer based in the north-west, and I've published books for adults and children of all ages over the last fifteen years, fiction and non-fiction. I've also ghost-written projects for other more famous individuals. My passions are thrillers, fantasy...

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A D Garrett

A D Garrett

Biography A.D. Garrett is the pseudonym for prize-winning novelist Margaret Murphy working in consultation with policing and forensics expert, Helen Pepper. Margaret Murphy has published nine internationally acclaimed psychological thrillers under her own name, both...

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Liz Hedgecock

Liz Hedgecock

Biography Liz Hedgecock grew up in London, England, did an English degree, and then took forever to start writing. After several years working in the National Health Service, some short stories crept into the world. A few even won prizes. Then the stories started to...

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Anthony Johnston

Anthony Johnston

Biography Antony Johnston is a New York Times bestselling graphic novelist and author with more than forty published titles to his name.   Website www.antonyjohnston.com   Genre Spy / Crime Thrillers   Publications & Performance History He's best...

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Alison Layland

Alison Layland

Biography  Alison grew up in Bradford, and lived in various parts of the UK before moving to mid-Wales in 1997, where she lives with her husband and two teenage children. She studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge University and, after a brief spell as a...

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Martin Lee

Martin Lee

Biography M J Lee is a writer of historical crime novels featuring the genealogical investigator Jayne Sinclair. In a previous life he was the Creative Director of a large advertising agency working on a wide portfolio of international clients.   Website...

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SE Lynes

SE Lynes

​ Biography Lecturer in creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College and author of three psychological thrillers: Valentina, Mother and the Pact, all available on Amazon   Genre Contemporary fiction, thrillers, crime   Publications & Performance...

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Margaret Murphy

Margaret Murphy

Biography A.D. Garrett is the pseudonym for prize-winning novelist Margaret Murphy working in consultation with policing and forensics expert, Helen Pepper. Margaret Murphy has published nine internationally acclaimed psychological thrillers under her own name, both...

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Roger A Price

Roger A Price

​ Biography Crime fighter turned crime writer, Roger spent over thirty years in the police retiring as a detective inspector in charge of a covert undercover drugs unit which achieved national acclaim. He served on various units and squads and saw service across the...

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Bill Rogers

Bill Rogers

Biography Formerly Principal Inspector of Schools for the City Of Manchester, Head of the Manchester School Improvement Service, and Lead Network Facilitator of the National College of School Leadership, I am currently a Fellow and judge of the Teaching Awards. For...

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Zoe Sharp

Zoe Sharp

Biography Zoe Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire but spent her formative years living aboard a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. She opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve and wrote her first novel at fifteen. She began her crime thriller...

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Chris Simms

Chris Simms

Biography Chris Simms has worked in airports, nightclubs, post offices and telesales centres. He now lives in Marple, near Stockport, with his wife and four children. The idea for his debut novel, Outside the White Lines, came to him in the early hours of the morning...

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Graham Smith

Graham Smith

Biography I am a former joiner turned hotelier and I'm the author of two different series. The first features DI Harry Evans and the Cumbrian Major Crimes team while the second features Jake Boulder, an ex-Glaswegian who works as a Utah doorman and private detective....

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Cath Staincliffe

Cath Staincliffe

Biography Cath Staincliffe is an award-winning novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV' s hit series Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis. Cath was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Best First Novel award for her acclaimed Sal Kilkenny...

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Ruth Sutton

Ruth Sutton

Biography After a long career as an international education consultant I settled in West Cumbria in 2006 and began to write fiction a few years later, setting all my novels in this beautiful and interesting area.   Website ruthsutton.co.uk   Genre Historical and...

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Neil White

Neil White

Biography Neil White is a criminal lawyer and a crime fiction writer, and so spends his days in the courtroom and his evenings writing crime fiction. His gritty and contemporary novels are set in the old cotton towns of Lancashire, and feature intrepid reporter Jack...

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Rhona Whiteford

Rhona Whiteford

Biography I was born in Manchester and have lived in Wigan for the past 40 years. I am a qualified teacher specialising in the primary age range but I am also qualified to teach other age groups and I have done many workshops for teachers, specialising in teaching...

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Kerry Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson

Biography His debut, LOCKED IN, the first in the detective Jessica Daniel series, is a UK no.1 Kindle bestseller, with the first three Jessica Daniel books making him Amazon UK's top-selling author for the final quarter of 2011. THINK OF THE CHILDREN came out in...

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Jennifer Young

Jennifer Young

Biography I'm currently Edinburgh-based but spend a lot of time in Cumbria and will be moving to the area (Penrith) within the next couple of years. Most of my published work is set in Scotland, Italy and Majorca but I'm currently working on a crime series set in East...

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Fantasy
Michael Ford

Michael Ford

Biography I'm a writer based in the north-west, and I've published books for adults and children of all ages over the last fifteen years, fiction and non-fiction. I've also ghost-written projects for other more famous individuals. My passions are thrillers, fantasy...

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Ian Hawley

Biography Novelist and Flash fiction writer, with a little mad poetry on the side. Born and raised in Manchester, Ian has been writing now for six years with a number of pieces published in Gumbo Press and The Writes Muse with a few Self published pieces of work for...

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Yasir Hayat

Yasir Hayat

Biography From an early age I developed a strange affinity for poetry after hearing Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem "The Raven". Immediately I tried writing my own, I was fascinated by words in rhyme and their meaning. My mind was set ablaze by ideas and thoughts,...

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Kerry Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson

Biography His debut, LOCKED IN, the first in the detective Jessica Daniel series, is a UK no.1 Kindle bestseller, with the first three Jessica Daniel books making him Amazon UK's top-selling author for the final quarter of 2011. THINK OF THE CHILDREN came out in...

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Film

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Historical
Clive Ashman

Clive Ashman

Biography The foreword to his first novel, 'MOSAIC',summarises the Cumbrian author, Clive Ashman, as "artist, writer, motor mechanic and qualified lawyer" - varied backgrounds shaping unique novels described in more detail below.  Each based in both Roman Britain and...

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Elizabeth Ashman

Elizabeth Ashman

​ Biography I write both non-fiction and fiction books with a local setting. My first historical novel The de Lacy Inheritance, was published by Myrmidon Books in June 2010. �My second novel, An Honourable Estate, was published in 2012 and By Loyalty Bound - the story...

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Martine Bailey

Martine Bailey

​Biography Martine lives in Chester and writes crime and mystery novels with a local flavour. She was inspired to write her debut, An Appetite for Violets, by a collection of 18th century recipes at Erddig Hall and then set out to follow in the steps of Georgian...

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Malcolm Brocklehurst

Biography I am President of Cleveleys Writers where my main contribution is poetry written under the pseudonym of Majinka. My philosophy to life is that age is no barrier to a working life and so when asked what are my future plans I respond with a blend of humour and...

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David Mark

David Mark

Biography David spent more than fifteen years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels. His first historical novel,...

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Anna Dean

Anna Dean

Biography Novelist and short story writer. I was born in Cumbria and have lived in the South Lakes for nearly thirty years. I've published an historical novel under my "real" name, Marian Veevers and, as Anna Dean, I write "cosy" mysteries featuring Dido Kent, an...

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Vivienne Dockerty

Vivienne Dockerty

Biography I was born on the Wirral in 1947 and attended Wirral Grammar School until I was 17. I had a Saturday job at Heswall Library and my love of books was encouraged from an early age. My father inspired me to write my stories, having listened in my childhood...

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John Donoghue

John Donoghue

Biography My creative career started in the 1980s, as a singer/songwriter with Liverpool band Jealous Heart. Since then, with a 25 year career in mental health behind me, with numerous articles published in a range of medical journals, I turned my hand to fiction and...

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Clare Dudman

Clare Dudman

Biography Clare's first novel was for children: EDGE OF DANGER which won the Kathleen Fidler award. Her second novel was for adults WEGENER'S JIGSAW which is a fictional autobiography based on the life of revolutionary scientist and arctic explorer Alfred Wegener and...

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Carol Fenlon

Carol Fenlon

Biography I have been writing for 20+ years, publishing many short stories in mainstream and small press magazines. My first novel, 'Consider the Lilies' won the Impress novel prize 2007 and was published by Impress books. It has recently been adapted for the stage by...

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Andie Fessey

Andie Fessey

Biography Andie J Fessey was born in Liverpool, England to wonderful parents. Living in Liverpool until his twenties, he then embarked upon a journey of wonder and experience throughout the world, employed within the dark and murky world of the security services for...

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Michael Ford

Michael Ford

Biography I'm a writer based in the north-west, and I've published books for adults and children of all ages over the last fifteen years, fiction and non-fiction. I've also ghost-written projects for other more famous individuals. My passions are thrillers, fantasy...

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Rosie Garland

Rosie Garland

Biography Tagged ‘literary hero’ by The Skinny, Rosie Garland is a UK-based novelist, poet and singer with post-punk band The March Violets. She performs twisted cabaret as The Time-Travelling Suffragette. With a passion for language nurtured by public libraries, she...

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Elizabeth Gates

Elizabeth Gates

Biography I wrote my first stories as the age of 4, largely because no-one else had written the stories I wanted to read! And my writing life has continued to flourish and grow in much the same serendipitous way. Between reading English Language & Literature at...

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David Hewlett

David Hewlett

Biography I am a lawyer and a writer   Website https://joseph1917.wordpress.com/   Genre Non fiction   Publications & Performance History My current book is Joseph, 1917, a non-fiction book that looks at the work of the military service tribunals...

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Carole McEntee-Taylor

Carole McEntee-Taylor

Biography I am the author of several military history books published by Pen and Sword with net royalties donated to military charities or towards memorials. I am also a partner in Military Lives which specialises in military biographies and village and town heritage...

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Jane Rogers

Jane Rogers

Biography Jane has written seven novels and also writes for TV and radio. She is editor of OUP's GOOD FICTION GUIDE, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.She teaches Novel on the MA in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University.   Website   Genre...

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Lionel Ross

Lionel Ross

Biography Lionel Ross was born in 1935 and lives in Manchester, England with his wife Luise. He has two sons and six grandchildren. He originally worked in textiles but is now a full-time author and publisher. His first novel Fine Feathers, was originally published by...

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Peter Street

Peter Street

Biography Peter has had a range of jobs ranging from Forester, Head Gardener, Chef, Taxi Driver, Writer in Residence in prisons, schools, International Youth Camps, BBC Greater Manchester radio, Poet in the Croatian/Bosnian conflict, Correspondent on Radio 4...

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Ruth Sutton

Ruth Sutton

Biography After a long career as an international education consultant I settled in West Cumbria in 2006 and began to write fiction a few years later, setting all my novels in this beautiful and interesting area.   Website ruthsutton.co.uk   Genre Historical and...

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Deborah Swift

Deborah Swift

Biography Historical fiction was a natural choice for me as a writer because I always enjoyed the research aspect of design, not to mention the attraction of boned bodices and the excuse to visit old and interesting buildings. My talks on my writing usually include...

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Roy Westall

Biography Author and publisher of Lancashire and Cheshire Local History books and historical novels. Member of Society of Authors, and National Association of Writers in Education. Membeship Secretary Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Proprietor of Portico...

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Horror
Debbie Bennett

Debbie Bennett

Biography By day I'm a business intelligence analyst and IT developer for the police. By night I'm a crime writer ... Based in mid-Cheshire, I have published a dark gritty 6-book crime/thriller series, that's had some great reviews. The first book was long-listed for...

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Robyn Cain

Robyn Cain

Biography Robyn moved to England from the Punjab in the 1960s. After spending her childhood in the South of England, she married and moved to the North, finally settling in Cheshire. She dreamed of being a writer but life had other plans. Now with a degree, PGCE and...

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Ramsey Campbell

Biography Born 1946 in Liverpool. Full-time writer since 1973. "I write horror." He has also written criticism of films and literature. Genre Horror and Short Stories Publications & Performance History Publications/Performance History : The Oxford Companion to...

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Steve Delaney

Steve Delaney

Biography Spook Teaching is a company that facilitates and performs creative literacy workshops, where we use the literacy curriculum and the Spook's narratives to deliver high quality reading, writing and drama activities. I and my colleagues  perform in character as...

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Ian Hawley

Biography Novelist and Flash fiction writer, with a little mad poetry on the side. Born and raised in Manchester, Ian has been writing now for six years with a number of pieces published in Gumbo Press and The Writes Muse with a few Self published pieces of work for...

read more
Yasir Hayat

Yasir Hayat

Biography From an early age I developed a strange affinity for poetry after hearing Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem "The Raven". Immediately I tried writing my own, I was fascinated by words in rhyme and their meaning. My mind was set ablaze by ideas and thoughts,...

read more
Humour
Julian Daniel

Julian Daniel

Biography Julian is the co-author of "How To Dump Your Girlfriend", a tongue in cheek book about ending relationships. He does live readings across the country at literature and comedy festivals. He's also a regular compere of shows; his credits include "The Wordsmith...

read more
Matt Jones

Matt Jones

Biography Matt Jones was born in 1971, the grandson of Austrian Jewish refugees. He spent his formative and adolescent years in Stevenage, and like many children comes from a broken home. However, in Matt's case it was adjudged that it was he who broke it, despite his...

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Geoff Lee

Geoff Lee

Biography Geoff Lee is the author of a series of novels all inspired by the old saying about being at work; "They could write a book about this place. It would be a best seller." He was born in St Helens in September 1939 and spent most of his working life as an...

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Chris Longden

Chris Longden

Biography Chris Longden was born, and grew up, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, UK. Her career has focussed on social housing and community development. She lived in Namibia, southern Africa for four years, where she gave birth to her first child whilst working with...

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Jenny Roche

Jenny Roche

Biography I've over 20 years successful experience of writing comedy material for radio, TV, theatre and performance and drama for radio and theatre. Publication credits include fiction for children and adults and news and feature articles for newspapers and magazines...

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Ian Sloan and Howard White

Ian Sloan and Howard White

Biography Ian Sloan and Howard White met as junior bus drivers in Birkenhead, in 1994, and on the advice of Ian's father, met as potential writing partners. "You two might just get on", he said. Early adult life conspired to stop them writing much until 2006, but then...

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Illustration
Katy Jones

Katy Jones

Biography I grew up near Bristol and first came to Manchester as a student of English Literature, in 1996. After graduation I went on to work with adults with learning disabilities in the Manchester area for just over two years. During this period I began to write my...

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Journalism
Local History

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Music
Leslie Cavendish

Leslie Cavendish

Biography Leslie Cavendish was born in East London and grew up in a large Jewish family in Burnt Oak, North London. He was apprenticed to Vidal Sassoon in 1962, becoming a stylist in his own right three years later. He became Paul McCartney's private hairdresser in...

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Non-Fiction
Yvonne Battle-Felton

Yvonne Battle-Felton

Biography Yvonne is an American writer living in Lancaster, UK. A writer of fiction and Creative Nonfiction, her writing has been published in riverSedge, Assisi, Not Somewhere Else But Here: A Contemporary Anthology of Women and Place, Welter, Slices, and The...

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James Carre-Rice

James Carre-Rice

Biography Aged 22, I was a hopeless case, serving my forth custodial sentence, 4 years for violence. However I enrolled in therapy and turned my life around completely. More than that, I realised that I had been trapped in an identity of my own making; one that was...

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Dean Cavanagh

Dean Cavanagh

Biography Lives in the North West with his family. Started his writing career in journalism and contributed to, amongst others, The N.M.E, i-D, the Mail on Sunday, Guardian and the Melody Maker. He became a freelance creative writer in the advertising industry for a...

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Leslie Cavendish

Leslie Cavendish

Biography Leslie Cavendish was born in East London and grew up in a large Jewish family in Burnt Oak, North London. He was apprenticed to Vidal Sassoon in 1962, becoming a stylist in his own right three years later. He became Paul McCartney's private hairdresser in...

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Alan M Fildes

Alan M Fildes

Biography Having studied Egyptology and Ancient History for over 30 years, i specialise in the Old and Middle Kingdom Pyramid sites and their related mastaba fields. As part of my research into official titles of the Old Kingdom i am compiling a corpus of 5th Dynasty...

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Michelle Green

Biography I'm a British-Canadian writer and spoken word artist. I've performed at many festivals and live events across the UK and beyond, solo and in collaboration with other writers, musicians and visual/digital artists. I have most recently written for the new...

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Diane Hinds

Diane Hinds

Biography Entertainment PR, Film Producer, Speaker, Guest Lecturer (UCLA Extension)   Website www.TheEntertainmentBureau.co.uk   Genre Public relations   Publications & Performance History How To Promote Your Book...

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Lizzie Jones

Lizzie Jones

Biography Born in the North East of England, Lizzie spent her early life in the beautiful town of Harrogate in Yorkshire, after moving there aged nine. She came to Manchester to study Economics at the Victoria University in the 1980?s and decided she liked this part...

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Chris Longden

Chris Longden

Biography Chris Longden was born, and grew up, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, UK. Her career has focussed on social housing and community development. She lived in Namibia, southern Africa for four years, where she gave birth to her first child whilst working with...

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Carole McEntee-Taylor

Carole McEntee-Taylor

Biography I am the author of several military history books published by Pen and Sword with net royalties donated to military charities or towards memorials. I am also a partner in Military Lives which specialises in military biographies and village and town heritage...

read more
Steven McLaughlin

Steven McLaughlin

Biography Steven McLaughlin is the author of two books, a former member of the elite Royal Green Jackets and an accomplished sportsman. In the early 1990s he was a doorman on some of Blackpool's busiest nightclubs; he holds a black belt in Shotokan Karate, has a...

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Sahera Patel

Sahera Patel

Biography Sahera Patel is a 43-year-old female British Muslim, teacher and public speaker, born in Bolton and now living in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Her parents were originally from India, offering her a diverse experience of two cultures. She has a passion for her...

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Peter Street

Peter Street

Biography Peter has had a range of jobs ranging from Forester, Head Gardener, Chef, Taxi Driver, Writer in Residence in prisons, schools, International Youth Camps, BBC Greater Manchester radio, Poet in the Croatian/Bosnian conflict, Correspondent on Radio 4...

read more

Roy Westall

Biography Author and publisher of Lancashire and Cheshire Local History books and historical novels. Member of Society of Authors, and National Association of Writers in Education. Membeship Secretary Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Proprietor of Portico...

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Performance
Jo Bell

Jo Bell

Biography Cheshire Poet Laureate 2007. I'm a poet, narrowboater and professional archaeologist. Lively, innovative, willing to make a fool of myself in public. Living on my boat Cariad, based around Macclesfield but with forays out and around Cheshire and the...

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Dean Cavanagh

Dean Cavanagh

Biography Lives in the North West with his family. Started his writing career in journalism and contributed to, amongst others, The N.M.E, i-D, the Mail on Sunday, Guardian and the Melody Maker. He became a freelance creative writer in the advertising industry for a...

read more
Julian Jordan

Julian Jordan

Biography Before becoming a successful performance poet, workshop leader scriptwriter and founder of Write Out Loud poetry organisation, my earlier career was in teaching and training: primary, secondary FE and HE, then organisation development consultancy and...

read more
Allan Reilly

Allan Reilly

Biography A writer, performer and playwright since 2004. Allan was one of the winners the 2006 Write Now, Act Later with his monologue The Paper Boy. Allan aims in his performance/workshop to inspire people and give them confidence to write and perform their own work....

read more
John Rice

John Rice

Biography John Rice is a poet, storyteller and photographer who has published 13 collections of poetry for both children and adults. He is a regular visitor to infant, primary, junior and secondary schools as well as libraries, festivals and arts centres. In 2015 he...

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Copland Smith

Copland Smith

Biography - always small case, once a mathematician, is a poet, songwriter, playwright, essayist, Guardian letter-writer and writing teacher. Born in Liverpool 1953. Has lived in Wallasey, N Wales, Nigeria, Northants, Suffolk, Dorset and now Chorlton cum Hardy, Man...

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Poetry
For National Care Leavers Week – Louise Wallwein MBE

For National Care Leavers Week – Louise Wallwein MBE

Time to Read is proud to be working with Louise Wallwein MBE for National Care Leavers Week 2020.  Today sees the first special online performance of GLUE broadcast from the writer’s living room - for young people in Lancashire. Following the live event, Louise will...

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Jo Bell

Jo Bell

Biography Cheshire Poet Laureate 2007. I'm a poet, narrowboater and professional archaeologist. Lively, innovative, willing to make a fool of myself in public. Living on my boat Cariad, based around Macclesfield but with forays out and around Cheshire and the...

read more
Mandy Coe

Mandy Coe

Biography Mandy Coe writes for adults and children. Her poetry has been broadcast on BBC radio and television and published in magazines and newspapers including the TV Times, the TES and the Guardian. Mandy lives in liverpool. Her work has won a number of awards and...

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Julian Daniel

Julian Daniel

Biography Julian is the co-author of "How To Dump Your Girlfriend", a tongue in cheek book about ending relationships. He does live readings across the country at literature and comedy festivals. He's also a regular compere of shows; his credits include "The Wordsmith...

read more
Dean Fraser

Dean Fraser

Publications & Performance History Dean Fraser takes his inspiration from our cultural history, nature in all her glory and his abstract observations of life in the 21st Century. The warmth and depth of his performance brings his poetic stories to life as he takes...

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Rosie Garland

Rosie Garland

Biography Tagged ‘literary hero’ by The Skinny, Rosie Garland is a UK-based novelist, poet and singer with post-punk band The March Violets. She performs twisted cabaret as The Time-Travelling Suffragette. With a passion for language nurtured by public libraries, she...

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Geraldine Green

Geraldine Green

Biography UK poet Dr. Geraldine Green is a freelance creative writing tutor, mentor, poetry editor and visiting lecturer at The University of Cumbria. She reads widely in the UK and North America. Her collections are: 'The Skin' and 'Passio' Flarestack Pubications,...

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Katie Hale

Katie Hale

Biography Born in Cumbria, Katie's debut pamphlet, 'Breaking the Surface', was published by Flipped Eye in 2017. She recently won the Jane Martin Poetry Prize and the Buzzwords Poetry Competition, and is the winner of the 2018 Fool For Poetry Chapbook Competition with...

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Ian Hawley

Biography Novelist and Flash fiction writer, with a little mad poetry on the side. Born and raised in Manchester, Ian has been writing now for six years with a number of pieces published in Gumbo Press and The Writes Muse with a few Self published pieces of work for...

read more
Yasir Hayat

Yasir Hayat

Biography From an early age I developed a strange affinity for poetry after hearing Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem "The Raven". Immediately I tried writing my own, I was fascinated by words in rhyme and their meaning. My mind was set ablaze by ideas and thoughts,...

read more

Charlotte Henson

Biography Charlotte is currently only 18, but already has plenty of publications. She is studying in her second her of A level and plans to study Creative Writing at Roehampton University. She leads workshops and has been performing poetry regularly around Manchester...

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Margaret Holbrook

Margaret Holbrook

Biography I live in Cheshire and I write mainly poetry, short stories and plays. I have had work published in several anthologies and magazines. In October 2012 my play, 'Soup for Starters' received an Honourable Mention at the Ovation Theatre Awards. In June 2013 my...

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Gaia Holmes

Gaia Holmes

Biography Gaia Holmes lives in Halifax. She's been a busker, a cleaner, a lolly-pop lady, a gallery attendant and an oral historian. She is currently an associate lecturer in Creative Writing at the university of Huddersfield and a free-lance writer. She has recently...

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Kathleen Jones

Kathleen Jones

Biography Born and brought up on a hill farm in the Lake District, educated at the Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton and then at Bristol University, Kathleen Jones spent several years in west Africa and the Middle East, where she worked in broadcast journalism,...

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Matt Jones

Matt Jones

Biography Matt Jones was born in 1971, the grandson of Austrian Jewish refugees. He spent his formative and adolescent years in Stevenage, and like many children comes from a broken home. However, in Matt's case it was adjudged that it was he who broke it, despite his...

read more
Julian Jordan

Julian Jordan

Biography Before becoming a successful performance poet, workshop leader scriptwriter and founder of Write Out Loud poetry organisation, my earlier career was in teaching and training: primary, secondary FE and HE, then organisation development consultancy and...

read more
Pete Kalu

Pete Kalu

Biography Pete Kalu is well known on the North West writing scene and beyond, as a novelist, storyteller, poet, and playwright. He started writing as a member of the Moss Side Write black writers workshop. Recent writing prizes include: Pants, (Winner, BBC/Contact...

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Melissa Lee-Houghton

Melissa Lee-Houghton

Biography Melissa Lee-Houghton is a poet and writer of short fiction. Her first collection, A Body Made Of You is a series of portraits written for other writers, artists, strangers and friends published by Penned In The Margins. Her poetry and fiction have featured...

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John Lindley

John Lindley

Biography Born in Stockport and now living in Congleton, Cheshire,John Lindley is a freelance poet, songwriter and creative writing tutor. An experienced performer, he has read at Ledbury Poetry Festival and at the Buxton and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. He runs...

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Grevel Lindrop

Grevel Lindrop

​Biography Grevel Lindop has published five successful books of poetry and  won First Prize in the 2005 Poetry London Competition. He has given successful and highly-praised readings, talks and workshops for nearly thirty years. His Literary Guide to the Lake District...

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Kevin McCann

Kevin McCann

Biography Kevin McCann,Winner of the Booktrust's Writing Together Award 2006, a former teacher, is one of the North West's leading children's poets. Nationally recognised, he has an impressive record of delivering high-quality poetry workshops to schools and young...

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Cath Nichols

Cath Nichols

​ Biography Volunteer, mental health worker, waitress, ceramic artist, photographer, student, artists' model, journalist, broadcaster, club promoter, project manager, poetry promoter... What has stuck longest is being a writer   Genre Poetry And Fiction.  ...

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Andrew Oldham

Andrew Oldham

Biography Andrew Oldham is an international award winning writer and poet. His poetry has been heard on BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please and has been read in Ambit, The London Magazine, North American Review and Poetry Salzburg. His first collection Ghosts of a Low...

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Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Nii Ayikwei Parkes

​ Biography Nii Ayikwei Parkes is an author and performance poet who has performed on major stages across the world, including at The Royal Festival Hall and at a reading for the London Mayor's vigil on July 14, 2005 (in response to the London bombings). He is the...

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Charlotte Peters Rock

Charlotte Peters Rock

Biography Born - Birmingham, England - 9th December, 1945. Followed a number of occupations before beginning to write - and then perform - about 20 years ago. Computer literate and able to design and update own web sites. WRITING Writes and performs poetry,...

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Eleanor Rees

Eleanor Rees

Biography Eleanor Rees was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside in 1978. Her pamphlet collection Feeding Fire (Spout, 2001) received an Eric Gregory Award in 2002 and her first full length collection Andraste's Hair (Salt, 2007) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for...

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Allan Reilly

Allan Reilly

Biography A writer, performer and playwright since 2004. Allan was one of the winners the 2006 Write Now, Act Later with his monologue The Paper Boy. Allan aims in his performance/workshop to inspire people and give them confidence to write and perform their own work....

read more
John Rice

John Rice

Biography John Rice is a poet, storyteller and photographer who has published 13 collections of poetry for both children and adults. He is a regular visitor to infant, primary, junior and secondary schools as well as libraries, festivals and arts centres. In 2015 he...

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Ian Seed

Ian Seed

Biography I work as a freelance writer and consultant, teach part-time at the University of Cumbria and Lancaster Adult College and edit the online poetry magazine, Shadowtrain.   Genre Poetry   Publications & Performance History Anonymous Intruder my...

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Dan Simpson

Dan Simpson

Biography Dan Simpson is a writer, performer, producer, and educator. He makes highly engaging and contemporary work that is popular, smart, and funny. His subjects include science and technology; history and place; art and geek culture; people and poetry. Dan has...

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Copland Smith

Copland Smith

Biography - always small case, once a mathematician, is a poet, songwriter, playwright, essayist, Guardian letter-writer and writing teacher. Born in Liverpool 1953. Has lived in Wallasey, N Wales, Nigeria, Northants, Suffolk, Dorset and now Chorlton cum Hardy, Man...

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Angela Topping

Angela Topping

Biography Angela is a Cheshire based writer who has worked widely in the community, such as teaching Creative Writing in evening classes, undertaking many Poets in Schools placements and a residency at St. Luke's Hospice. Angela is also an experienced Secondary school...

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Gabrielle Tyrrell

Gabrielle Tyrrell

Biography Gabby Tyrrell began doing performance poetry at the Hard Edge Club in the 1990's and went on to help run the Electric Circus at Tottenham Court Road and a performance night at Bunjees Folk Cellar. She has an BA(honors) in Communications and Combined Studies...

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Brian Wake

Biography Liverpool born Brian Wake has published eight books of poetry. He has been published in literary magazines and journals all over the world and has had his work broadcast on radio and television for many years. His latest book is ETCETERA  New & Selected...

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Steven Waling

Biography An internationally-published poet, reviewer and experienced tutor of creative writing, including and innovative African writer-mentoring programme (Crossing Borders). I was born in Accrington in 1958 and now live in Manchester.   Website...

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Romantic
Mollie Blake

Mollie Blake

Biography As a late comer to motherhood, I became a 'former' Finance Director when my son was three and a half. Ready for a new challenge I decided to write an erotic romantic thriller in 2012. I sort of got hooked and, writing under the brand Romance Erotica Danger,...

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Andie Fessey

Andie Fessey

Biography Andie J Fessey was born in Liverpool, England to wonderful parents. Living in Liverpool until his twenties, he then embarked upon a journey of wonder and experience throughout the world, employed within the dark and murky world of the security services for...

read more

Michelle Green

Biography I'm a British-Canadian writer and spoken word artist. I've performed at many festivals and live events across the UK and beyond, solo and in collaboration with other writers, musicians and visual/digital artists. I have most recently written for the new...

read more

Hazel Robinson

Biography Hazel Robinson is the UK author of contemporary and new adult romance, uniquely blending tragedy and romance. She first began her journey with a passion for reading until one day a particular book struck Hazel so much she decided to write down a story that...

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Suzie Tullett

Suzie Tullett

Biography I am an author of contemporary women's fiction and romantic comedy.My novels include Going Underground, Little White Lies and Butterflies, which was short-listed for The Guardian?s Not the Booker Prize, and The Trouble with Words, a tale about love, loss,...

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Jennifer Young

Jennifer Young

Biography I'm currently Edinburgh-based but spend a lot of time in Cumbria and will be moving to the area (Penrith) within the next couple of years. Most of my published work is set in Scotland, Italy and Majorca but I'm currently working on a crime series set in East...

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Science Fiction
Andrew Glennon

Andrew Glennon

Biography Andrew Glennon was born in Liverpool, UK. For almost 30 years he worked around the world for large multi-national companies before deciding to burn the business suit, shirt and tie. His first book, "The Loneliest Robot" was released in 2017 and is a highly...

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Matt Jones

Matt Jones

Biography Matt Jones was born in 1971, the grandson of Austrian Jewish refugees. He spent his formative and adolescent years in Stevenage, and like many children comes from a broken home. However, in Matt's case it was adjudged that it was he who broke it, despite his...

read more
Calum Kerr

Calum Kerr

Biography Calum is a writer and academic working living in South Manchester. He is passionate about writing, reading and the liberation of words and loves to communicate this passion to the people around him. His PhD was a combination of creative writing and...

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Scriptwriting
Marc Gee

Marc Gee

Biography Originating from the Wirral, Marc has been writing for over twenty years. He has penned over twelve stage plays which have been performed at such venues as The Edinburgh Festival and The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. In 2001 he had a full...

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Margaret Holbrook

Margaret Holbrook

Biography I live in Cheshire and I write mainly poetry, short stories and plays. I have had work published in several anthologies and magazines. In October 2012 my play, 'Soup for Starters' received an Honourable Mention at the Ovation Theatre Awards. In June 2013 my...

read more
Julian Jordan

Julian Jordan

Biography Before becoming a successful performance poet, workshop leader scriptwriter and founder of Write Out Loud poetry organisation, my earlier career was in teaching and training: primary, secondary FE and HE, then organisation development consultancy and...

read more
Calum Kerr

Calum Kerr

Biography Calum is a writer and academic working living in South Manchester. He is passionate about writing, reading and the liberation of words and loves to communicate this passion to the people around him. His PhD was a combination of creative writing and...

read more
Jenny Roche

Jenny Roche

Biography I've over 20 years successful experience of writing comedy material for radio, TV, theatre and performance and drama for radio and theatre. Publication credits include fiction for children and adults and news and feature articles for newspapers and magazines...

read more
Cath Staincliffe

Cath Staincliffe

Biography Cath Staincliffe is an award-winning novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV' s hit series Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis. Cath was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Best First Novel award for her acclaimed Sal Kilkenny...

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Short Stories
Jenn Ashworth

Jenn Ashworth

​ Biography Jenn  has worked at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, rural branches and has managed a Prison Library Her writing career  includes a variety of online publications and a blog that won the Best Writing on a Blog Award at the 2008 Manchester Literary Festival....

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Yvonne Battle-Felton

Yvonne Battle-Felton

Biography Yvonne is an American writer living in Lancaster, UK. A writer of fiction and Creative Nonfiction, her writing has been published in riverSedge, Assisi, Not Somewhere Else But Here: A Contemporary Anthology of Women and Place, Welter, Slices, and The...

read more
Carys Bray

Carys Bray

Biography Her collection Sweet Home won the Scott Prize. Her first novel A Song for Issy Bradley was broadcast on BBC Radio Four.   Website www.carysbray.co.uk   Genre literary fiction- short stories and novels   Publications & Performance History Sweet Home (Salt...

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Michelle Green

Biography I'm a British-Canadian writer and spoken word artist. I've performed at many festivals and live events across the UK and beyond, solo and in collaboration with other writers, musicians and visual/digital artists. I have most recently written for the new...

read more

Charlotte Henson

Biography Charlotte is currently only 18, but already has plenty of publications. She is studying in her second her of A level and plans to study Creative Writing at Roehampton University. She leads workshops and has been performing poetry regularly around Manchester...

read more
Melissa Lee-Houghton

Melissa Lee-Houghton

Biography Melissa Lee-Houghton is a poet and writer of short fiction. Her first collection, A Body Made Of You is a series of portraits written for other writers, artists, strangers and friends published by Penned In The Margins. Her poetry and fiction have featured...

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Grevel Lindrop

Grevel Lindrop

​Biography Grevel Lindop has published five successful books of poetry and  won First Prize in the 2005 Poetry London Competition. He has given successful and highly-praised readings, talks and workshops for nearly thirty years. His Literary Guide to the Lake District...

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Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Nii Ayikwei Parkes

​ Biography Nii Ayikwei Parkes is an author and performance poet who has performed on major stages across the world, including at The Royal Festival Hall and at a reading for the London Mayor's vigil on July 14, 2005 (in response to the London bombings). He is the...

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Zoe Sharp

Zoe Sharp

Biography Zoe Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire but spent her formative years living aboard a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. She opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve and wrote her first novel at fifteen. She began her crime thriller...

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Caroline Smailes

Caroline Smailes

Biography 'Caroline Smailes and Will Self are arch-experimentalists.' Observer Caroline Smailes' acclaimed debut novel, IN SEARCH OF ADAM, was published in 2007 (The Friday Project/HarperCollins). The Big Issue North declared the book 'an engrossing and touching read...

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Copland Smith

Copland Smith

Biography - always small case, once a mathematician, is a poet, songwriter, playwright, essayist, Guardian letter-writer and writing teacher. Born in Liverpool 1953. Has lived in Wallasey, N Wales, Nigeria, Northants, Suffolk, Dorset and now Chorlton cum Hardy, Man...

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Cath Staincliffe

Cath Staincliffe

Biography Cath Staincliffe is an award-winning novelist, radio playwright and creator of ITV' s hit series Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis. Cath was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Best First Novel award for her acclaimed Sal Kilkenny...

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Angela Topping

Angela Topping

Biography Angela is a Cheshire based writer who has worked widely in the community, such as teaching Creative Writing in evening classes, undertaking many Poets in Schools placements and a residency at St. Luke's Hospice. Angela is also an experienced Secondary school...

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Gabrielle Tyrrell

Gabrielle Tyrrell

Biography Gabby Tyrrell began doing performance poetry at the Hard Edge Club in the 1990's and went on to help run the Electric Circus at Tottenham Court Road and a performance night at Bunjees Folk Cellar. She has an BA(honors) in Communications and Combined Studies...

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Sport
Tom Palmer

Tom Palmer

Biography Tom Palmer has written books about football, fatherhood and reader development . Aimed at children and adults. He works across the UK (and beyond) to blend his role as a writer and a passionate promoter of reading and libraries. Full details are available on...

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Thriller
Matt Hilton

Matt Hilton

Biography Matt Hilton made the news in 2008 when Hodder & Stoughton signed him up for a five-book series featuring vigilante crime fighter Joe Hunter. His debut thriller DEAD MEN'S DUST was published in May 2009, and the second in the series, JUDGEMENT AND WRATH,...

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Anthony Johnston

Anthony Johnston

Biography Antony Johnston is a New York Times bestselling graphic novelist and author with more than forty published titles to his name.   Website www.antonyjohnston.com   Genre Spy / Crime Thrillers   Publications & Performance History He's best...

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Alison Layland

Alison Layland

Biography  Alison grew up in Bradford, and lived in various parts of the UK before moving to mid-Wales in 1997, where she lives with her husband and two teenage children. She studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge University and, after a brief spell as a...

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SE Lynes

SE Lynes

​ Biography Lecturer in creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College and author of three psychological thrillers: Valentina, Mother and the Pact, all available on Amazon   Genre Contemporary fiction, thrillers, crime   Publications & Performance...

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Zosia Wand

Zosia Wand

Biography Zosia Wand is an author and playwright. She was born in London and lives in Cumbria with her family. She is passionate about good coffee, cake and her adopted landscape on the edge of the Lake District. When she is not writing, Zosia runs workshops and...

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Rhona Whiteford

Rhona Whiteford

Biography I was born in Manchester and have lived in Wigan for the past 40 years. I am a qualified teacher specialising in the primary age range but I am also qualified to teach other age groups and I have done many workshops for teachers, specialising in teaching...

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Travel
Jessica Davies

Jessica Davies

Biography I am Australian and a copywriter by trade and also dabble in more creative works. In 2011, I moved to Paris where I spent two years eating food and then writing about it. I am now based in Manchester where I spend my time creating copy for companies'...

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War
Ruth Elliot-Smith

Ruth Elliot-Smith

​ Biography A journalist in Jerusalem and the occupied territories just after the Six Day War, Ruth survived crossfire on the Suez Canal, minefields on the Golan Heights and a mortar attack on the Lebanese border, all of which she draws on for this, her debut novel....

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Michelle Green

Biography I'm a British-Canadian writer and spoken word artist. I've performed at many festivals and live events across the UK and beyond, solo and in collaboration with other writers, musicians and visual/digital artists. I have most recently written for the new...

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David Hewlett

David Hewlett

Biography I am a lawyer and a writer   Website https://joseph1917.wordpress.com/   Genre Non fiction   Publications & Performance History My current book is Joseph, 1917, a non-fiction book that looks at the work of the military service tribunals...

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Womens Fiction
Patricia Dixon

Patricia Dixon

Biography Patricia Dixon was born in Manchester where she still lives with her husband. They have two grown up children and one grandson, plus the company of a lazy bulldog. Ignoring her high school reports and possibly sound advice from teachers, Patricia shunned the...

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Young Adult
For National Care Leavers Week – Louise Wallwein MBE

For National Care Leavers Week – Louise Wallwein MBE

Time to Read is proud to be working with Louise Wallwein MBE for National Care Leavers Week 2020.  Today sees the first special online performance of GLUE broadcast from the writer’s living room - for young people in Lancashire. Following the live event, Louise will...

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Yasir Hayat

Yasir Hayat

Biography From an early age I developed a strange affinity for poetry after hearing Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem "The Raven". Immediately I tried writing my own, I was fascinated by words in rhyme and their meaning. My mind was set ablaze by ideas and thoughts,...

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Mark Illis

Mark Illis

Biography Mark Illis was born in London in 1963. He has written five novels for adults, most recently TENDER and THE LAST WORD (shortlisted for The Portico Prize), both published by Salt. He has also written three radio plays and has written for EastEnders, The Bill...

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Kerry Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson

Biography His debut, LOCKED IN, the first in the detective Jessica Daniel series, is a UK no.1 Kindle bestseller, with the first three Jessica Daniel books making him Amazon UK's top-selling author for the final quarter of 2011. THINK OF THE CHILDREN came out in...

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