In the Reading Corner

Flavia Drago is an illustrator with a broad portfolio covering branding, packaging, character development and children's books. She is a recent graduate of the MA in Children's Book Illustration from…

Sudanese-Australian writer and media presenter, Yasmin Abdel-Magied is something of a superstar. Following an early career as a mechanical engineer and formula 1 commentator, she is now a published w…

Sara Pennypacker's Pax was a huge hit with children and adults alike. Many readers wanted to know what happened to Peter and his pet Fox after the story ended and now Sara Pennypacker has written a s…

Rob Biddulph is well-known for his picture books and the phenomenally successful Draw with Rob YouTube channel. Now he has turned his talent to writing longer fiction and his first book Peanut Jones …

Chris Thorogood is Deputy Director & Head of Science, University of Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum, His recently published book When Plants Took Over the Planet has plenty to  interest children fr…

Samuel Langley-Swain has a background in fine art but following the arrival of his two children, he decided that needed to write his own story. After self-publishing and marketing his own book he rea…

Kiran Millwood and Tom de Freston are creative partners as well as being married to each other. Their recently published novella, Julia and the Shark is a profound exploration of mental illness and i…

Pam Smy talks to Nikki Gamble about her highly anticipated second novel, The Hideaway.

Pam describes the different threads that are woven together to create the dual narrative story, the techniques us…

Victoria Hislop read English at Oxford and worked in publishing, PR and as a journalist before becoming a novelist. 

Her first novel, The Island, held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback…

Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University, where he is Senior Research Fellow and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research  He is Ass…

Naomi Gibson was born in 1988 and grew up in Cheshire, UK. Her childhood was spent with her nose in a book and her hands on a sketchpad, constantly in search of adventure and new worlds. Encouraged b…

Swapna Haddow trained as a doctor, but after discovering she didn't like blood, decided on a career change and wrote her first book Dave Pigeon: How to Deal With Bad Cats and Keep (most of) Your Feat…

Jeffrey Boakye is a writer and teacher originally from Brixton in south London, now living in Yorkshire with his family. He has a particular interest in issues surrounding education, race and popular…

Ross Montgomery is known for his inventive stories and reflective picturebooks. Now he brings us something entirely different, a rhyming countdown book featuring hairy monsters and some very tasty te…

Dirk Reinhardt, born in 1963, studied German and history before becoming a freelance journalist and starting to write books for children and young adults.

In this episode, he talks with Nikki Gamble …

Linda Newbery is a Costa Award-winning author for her novel Set in Stone, a mystery in the Vein of Wilkie Collins The Woman in White. She is highly regarded for her fiction for both junior and teenag…

Struan Murray author of The Orphans of the Tide and Shipwreck Island is the joint recipient of the Branford Boase award, with editor Ben Horslen. The Branford Boase is given for the most outstanding …

Alom Shaha was born in Bangladesh but grew up in London. A parent, teacher, science writer, and filmmaker, he has spent most of his professional life trying to share his passion for science and educa…

Peter Bently is a prolific author of rhyming picture books for children. These include
 The Great Dog Bottom Swap (with Mei Matsuoka), Meet the Parents (with Sara Ogilvie), The Shark in the Dark (with…

Michelle Paver is a British novelist who was born in Malawi where she lived until she was three years old. Her mother was Belgian and her father was South African.

Michelle was educated at Wimbledon …