Dara McAnulty, author of Diary of a Young Naturalist (Ebury) and Wild Child (Macmillan Children’s Books) – Dara McAnulty is a 17-year-old autistic naturalist, conservationist and activist from Northern Ireland. His debut book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, won the 2020 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Non-Fiction and was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize - the youngest ever author to do so. Dara is the youngest ever winner of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Medal for services to conservation and nature. He is also the recipient of 10 Downing Street's 'Points of Light' and the winner of The Daily Mirror Young Animal Hero award.
Elle McNicoll, author of Show Us Who You Are (Knights Of) – An instant hit with booksellers, Scottish author Elle McNicoll’s first children’s novel, A Kind of Spark, was a the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and of the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Children’s Fiction in 2020. A Neurodivergent writer with a passion for improving inclusivity within the publishing industry, McNicoll’s second novel is Show Us Who You Are.
Marcus Rashford, author of You Are A Champion written with Carl Anka (Macmillan Children's Books) – Marcus Rashford MBE is famous worldwide for his skills both on and off the pitch – but before he was a Manchester United and England footballer, and long before he started his inspiring campaign to end child food poverty, he was just an average kid from Wythenshawe, South Manchester. 2021 saw the publication of his positive and inspiring guide for life, written with Carl Anka, showing young people how they can achieve their dreams and the launch of The Marcus Rashford Book Club, which aims to inspire children to develop a love of reading and literacy as a life skill.
Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch (Vintage) – Monique Roffey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. She is the author of six novels and a memoir. The Mermaid of Black Conch won the Costa Book of the Year and the Costa Novel Award 2020. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2021, the Goldsmiths Prize 2020 and the Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021, and longlisted for the Orwell Prize, the Ondaatje Prize and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2021. Monique Roffey is a Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and a tutor for the National Writers Centre.