John Agard is one of the most admired and loved poets of our time. Born in Guyana, he moved to Britain in 1977, where his exceptional poetic talents were soon recognised. He has published more than 50 poetry collections for both children and adults and has won many awards. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2007. He was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012 and received the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.  His poetry is on the GCSE English syllabus and he has toured widely with the GCSE Poetry Live show. He is married to fellow-poet Grace Nicholls, and they live in Lewes, West Sussex.Shirley Hottier was winner of the FAB illustration award in 2021. She is French and graduated in Paris with a degree in architecture. As an illustrator she has a passion for promoting diversity, drawing on her own family tradition of multiple cultures to create warm and lively scenes and characters. Shirley specialises in digital art, incorporating a rich palette of vivid colours and varied textures. She lives in Edinburgh.

"John Agard is not just one of our greatest poets and writers for children, but one of our greatest writers period."

John Agard is one of the most admired and loved poets of our time. Born in Guyana, he moved to Britain in 1977, where his exceptional poetic talents were soon recognised. He has published more than 50 poetry collections for both children and adults and has won many awards. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2007. He was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012 and received the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.  His poetry is on the GCSE English syllabus and he has toured widely with the GCSE Poetry Live show. He is married to fellow-poet Grace Nicholls, and they live in Lewes, West Sussex.Shirley Hottier was winner of the FAB illustration award in 2021. She is French and graduated in Paris with a degree in architecture. As an illustrator she has a passion for promoting diversity, drawing on her own family tradition of multiple cultures to create warm and lively scenes and characters. Shirley specialises in digital art, incorporating a rich palette of vivid colours and varied textures. She lives in Edinburgh.

"John Agard is not just one of our greatest poets and writers for children, but one of our greatest writers period."

John Agard is one of the most admired and loved poets of our time. Born in Guyana, he moved to Britain in 1977, where his exceptional poetic talents were soon recognised. He has published more than 50 poetry collections for both children and adults and has won many awards. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 2007. He was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012 and received the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.  His poetry is on the GCSE English syllabus and he has toured widely with the GCSE Poetry Live show. He is married to fellow-poet Grace Nicholls, and they live in Lewes, West Sussex.Shirley Hottier was winner of the FAB illustration award in 2021. She is French and graduated in Paris with a degree in architecture. As an illustrator she has a passion for promoting diversity, drawing on her own family tradition of multiple cultures to create warm and lively scenes and characters. Shirley specialises in digital art, incorporating a rich palette of vivid colours and varied textures. She lives in Edinburgh.

"John Agard is not just one of our greatest poets and writers for children, but one of our greatest writers period."