Schools who wish to book tickets for events on Friday should email: staustelllitfest@gmail.com or complete the following form for further information and to request tickets.
Manjeet Mann
Event 1 details: 10:00am, St Mewan School, St Mewan Lane, PL26 7DP. Recommended age: KS1.
Event 2 details: 1:00pm, Poltair School, Trevarthian Road, PL25 4BZ. Recommended age: KS3 and 4.
Manjeet is an actress, playwright and screenwriter as well as an author of YA and Picture Books. Her YA novels, ‘Run, Rebel’ and ‘The Crossing’, have garnered many awards including the Carnegie Shadower’s Choice Award, Costa Children’s Book Award and twice recipient of the UKLA Award. Her picture books include Small’s Big Dream and Whirly Twirly Me.
Louie Stowell
Event details: 10:00am, Venue: Sandy Hill Academy, Sandy Hill, PL25 3AT. Recommended age: KS2/Year 7.
Louie Stowell was born in London and has lived there ever since, except for a short stint in Watford to study advertising. She’s worked as a copywriter, cartoonist, PR and in-house non-fiction writer, and was Publisher at Ladybird/Penguin Random House before writing full-time.
Her debut, THE DRAGON IN THE LIBRARY, was published by Nosy Crow in 2019 and Walker Books in the US, followed by THE MONSTER IN THE LAKE in January 2020 and THE WIZARD IN THE WOOD in 2021. OTHERLAND, a standalone middle-grade novel, followed in 2021 with Nosy Crow. The first book in her new series with Walker Books, LOKI: A BAD GOD’S GUIDE TO BEING GOOD, was an instant #3 Sunday Times (UK) bestseller.
Louie grew up on a diet of Tolkien, “Doctor Who”, Ursula Le Guin, live action role play, “Just William”, 2000AD, Elfquest, John Christopher and Nicholas Fisk. She loves comics, science fiction, fantasy and anything funny. At university, she wrote her thesis on comics, and once won a prize for Anglo-Saxon. She likes woods, urban foxes and mythology.
Louie lives in Hackney with her wife, Karen, her dog, Buffy, and a nameless creepy puppet that is probably cursed.
Sarah Tagholm
Event 1 details: 10:00am, Mount Charles Primary School, Morven Road, PL25 4PP. Recommended age: KS1.
Event 2 details: 1:00pm, Pondhu Primary School, Penwinnick Road, PL25 5DS. Recommended age: Nursery/KS1.
Sarah Tagholm is a children’s author who loves writing about confused animals, mischievous children and all things bizarre. She is passionate about encouraging a love of reading, libraries and availability of books for all children. Sarah lives with her husband and son in Cornwall, where they spend so much time in the sea it’s a wonder they haven’t grown gills!
Eve Wersocki-Morris
Event details: 10:00am, Carclaze Community Primary School, St Piran’s Close, PL25 3TF. Recommended age: KS2 and 3.
Eve Wersocki-Morris is an award-nominated and bestselling children’s author and has been making up stories her whole life. Despite being diagnosed with dyslexia aged 12, nothing could stop her literary ambitions and she wrote her first full novel aged 13. Her debut The Bird Singer (2022) was inspired by her Polish heritage and was a Sunday Times Book of the Week and nominated for the prestigious Branford Boase Award. Her second book ‘The Wildstorm Curse’ came out earlier this year and was an Independent Bookshops Bestseller. Eve has appeared at numerous book festivals including Bath Children’s Book Festival and Barnes’ Children’s Literature Festival. Eve has volunteered with Coram Beanstalk Literacy Charity as a reading helper; she has written for numerous publications including BookTrust, Stylist and Times Literature Supplement; and she was recently a judge for Wimbledon BookFest’s Young Writer’s Competition 2023. Her third book is out in Summer 2024. She lives in London.
Anna Wilson
Event details: 1:00pm, Mount Charles Primary School, Morven Road, PL25 4PP. Recommended age: KS1.
Anna Wilson is a writer, teacher and editor. She began her career at Macmillan Children’s Books, but quickly turned her attention to writing her own books and has published over 50 titles for children and adults. Her series, ‘Vlad the World’s Worst Vampire’ has been translated into thirteen languages. Her latest book ‘Grandpa and the Kingfisher’ was shortlisted for the Wainwright Nature Prize in 2023. As well as writing for young people, Anna has also published a memoir: A Place for Everything – my mother, autism and me. It has been reviewed as “a seminal work in this area” by the world expert in autism in women, Professor Tony Attwood. Anna also has extensive experience in teaching creative writing. She was an Associate Lecturer at Bath Spa University and is currently a tutor for the Arvon Foundation and the HarperCollins Author Academy. She is also a Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
Kieran Larwood
Event details: 10:00am, Venue: Bishop Bronescombe School, Boscoppa Road, PL25 3DT. Recommended age: KS2/Year 7
Kieran Larwood is the author of Middle Grade children’s book series The Five Realms and Carnival Of The Lost (Faber). He worked as a Reception class teacher for fifteen years, and has just about recovered. He now writes full time and drinks far too much coffee. He won the 2011 Times Children’s Fiction competition with his debut novel, and the 2017 Blue Peter Book Award for Podkin One-Ear, his second book.
Hannah Gold
Event 1 details: 10:00am, Poltair School, Trevarthian Road, PL25 4BZ. Recommended age: KS2 and 3.
Event 2 details: 1:00pm, Sandy Hill Academy, Sandy Hill, PL25 3AT. Recommended age: KS2 and 3.
Hannah Gold worked in the film and magazine industries before taking time out to pursue her dream of writing. The Last Bear was her middle-grade debut which became a Sunday Times bestseller and won a multitude of national awards, including the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award in 2022. Since then, she has written The Lost Whale, Finding Bear, and her brand-new book Turtle Moon. Hannah’s books have sold over 230,000 copies in the UK alone, and been translated into 27 languages. She is also an ambassador for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and lives in Lincolnshire with her tortoise and her husband.
Steve Webb
Event details: 1:00pm, Venue: Bishop Bronescombe School, Boscoppa Road, PL25 3DT. Recommended age: KS2 and 3.
Steve Webb is an author and illustrator of graphic novels, middle grade and picture books. His new graphic novel series Peng and Spanners is available now. His first middle grade series was the magnificently bonkers Spangles McNasty. For younger readers he has written the fabulously silly picture book, Cows go BOO! and the rhythm and rhyme, syllable-tastic classic, Tanka Tanka Skunk. Steve lives on a muddy hill where he likes to bounce around on his mountainous bicycle.
Author/illustrator panel – Louis Stowell, Katie Kirby and Jenny McLachlan
Event details: 1:00pm, Venue: Carclaze Primary School, St Piran’s Close, PL25 3TF. Recommended age: KS2 and 3.
Join out author/illustrators for a fun drawing challenge!