Authors beginning with: N
Ben Newman
Ben Newman is an award-winning illustrator who has racked up an impressive list of clients, including Penguin, the BBC and the New York Times, among many others. He is the illustrator of the Professor Astro Cat Series and also wrote and illustrated a picture book called BOO! He lives in Hastings, UK.
Beverley Naidoo
Beverley Naidoo joined the resistance to apartheid as a student in South Africa, leading to detention without trial and exile. She began writing while working as a teacher in Britain. Her first novel, Journey to Jo’burg, was originally banned in South Africa but opened a window for children elsewhere.
She won the Carnegie Medal for The Other Side of Truth. She received the US African Studies Association Children’s Book Award for No Turning Back, Out of Bounds (short stories with Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu), Burn My Heart and Who is King?. In Cinderella of the Nile, she retells a 2000-year-old version from ancient Egypt. Widely translated, she has been a nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Beverley lives in Dorset.
E Nesbit
Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party.
Garth Nix
Garth Richard Nix is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the Old Kingdom, Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom series. He has frequently been asked if his name is a pseudonym, to which he has responded, "I guess people ask me because it sounds like the perfect name for a writer of fantasy. However, it is my real name."
Gary Northfield
Gary was born in Romford, Essex in June 1969. He moved to Norfolk when he was two, where he then spent most of his childhood and the bug for writing and drawing funny stories evolved. Gary graduated from college with a degree in illustration. After graduation he worked in an art shop for a few years during which time he discovered the hidden world of small press (home-made) comics. Finally Gary took the plunge with his own comics in 1999. He acquired the position of ‘in-house illustrator’ at Eaglemoss Publications in 2002, working on magazines such as Horrible Histories and The Magical World of Roald Dahl. Gary has been writing and drawing Derek the Sheep for DC Thomson’s The Beano since late 2003.
Grace Nichols
Grace Nichols was born in Guyana and has lived in Britain since 1977. Her first collection of poetry, I Is A Long-Memoried Woman, won the 1983 Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Among her other books for adults are the popular The Fat Black Woman’s Poems. Her children’s books include The Poet Cat, Paint Me a Poem (awarded the Children's Poetry Book-Shelf Best Single Author’s Collection) and Cosmic Disco.
She has edited anthologies including Poetry Jump Up; with her poet partner, John Agard, she edited collections such as Under The Moon and Over the Sea, which won a CLPE Award. She is among the poets on the current GCSE syllabus and received the Cholmondeley Award in 2000 as well as an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Hull. She also has an adult book called The Insomnia Poems.
Helen Nicoll
Helen Nicoll was born in Natland, Westmorland, in 1937. She was educated at schools in Bristol, Devon and London. Nicoll married Robert Kime in 1970 and they had one daughter and one son.
In addition to the Meg and Mog series, Helen had a long and varied association with Puffin - as editor of the Junior Puffin magazine The Egg from 1977 - 1979, and as compiler of the popular children's poetry anthology Poems for Seven Year Olds and Under, illustrated by Michael Foreman. She owned and ran the audio company Cover to Cover for many years which produced the popular series of Puffin story tapes.
Helen lived in Marlborough, Wiltshire. She died on September 30, 2012.
Jandy Nelson
Jandy Nelson is an American author of young adult fiction. Prior to her career as an author, Nelson worked for 13 years as a literary agent. She holds a BA from Cornell University as well as MFAs in poetry and children's writing from Brown University and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Nelson lives in San Francisco, California
Jenny Nimmo
Jenny Nimmois a British author of children's books, including many fantasy and adventure novels, chapter books, and picture books. Born in England, she has lived mostly in Wales for forty years. She is probably best known for two series of fantasy novels: The Magician Trilogy (1986–1989), contemporary stories rooted in Welsh myth, and Children of the Red King (2002–2010), featuring Charlie Bone and other schoolchildren endowed with magical powers.
Jo Nesbø
Jo Nesbø is the most successful Norwegian author of all time. His adult novels have sold millions of copies worldwide. His children's books have also received widespread acclaim: his Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder series was translated into more than 35 languages. The first book of the Doctor Proctor series has sold more copies than any children's book debut in Norwegian history. It has been made into a live-action movie which will be released in the UK in 2015.
Before becoming an author Jo played football for Norway's premier league team Molde. But his dream of playing professionally for Tottenham Hotspur was dashed due to an injury he suffered at the age of 18. After three years of military service he attended business school and formed the band Di Derre ('Them There'). Their second album topped the charts in Norway. But he continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. It wasn't until he was 37 that Jo became a published author.
Joanna Nadin
Joanna Nadin grew up in the small Essex town of Saffron Walden. Before becoming a writer she was a lifeguard, a newsreader on the radio, and Special Adviser to the Prime Minister. Joanna continues to freelance as a political speechwriter. Joanna now lives in Bath and spends her spare time with her daughter. Her 'plan B' job would be to run a vintage clothing shop with a tearoom attached!
Karl Nova
Karl Nova is a hip hop artist, performance poet and award-winning author who also works as an educator running hip-hop flavoured creative writing workshops in schools all over the UK and abroad. His debut collection of poetry and short stories, Rhythm And Poetry, won the 2018 CLiPPA Poetry Award, which was presented to him at the National Theatre, London by Grace Nichols. The book has been a hit with children as young as seven all the way up into adolescence.
Karl focuses on questioning the narrow definitions of what poetry is, as well as the discovery of the joy of poetic expression which came to him through the lyricism of rap music and the creativity found in spoken word slam poetry. He deals with growing up through childhood into adulthood and is often very humorous in his storytelling and reflections. Karl is based in London.
Kazuko Nomoto
Nomoco, also working under her full name Kazuko Nomoto, was born in Fukuoka, Japan and graduated from Osaka University of Arts, Japan, subsequently graduating from London College of Communication, and Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. Nomoco has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in London, Milan, Tokyo, Singapore, New York and Mexico City.
Nature and sound are her inspiration. She enjoys experimenting with various materials and craft-work in her works, especially with ink on paper and its organic movement. For the past few years, she has explored working with printmaking, such as silkscreen and lithography, mixed with ink drawings. Nomoco’s enchanting illustrations appear across many platforms, including publishing, fashion, advertising, editorial and packaging.
Linda Newbery
Linda Iris Newbery is a British writer known best for young adult fiction—where she entered the market, although she has broadened her range to encompass all ages. She published her first novel Run with the Hare in 1988, while still working as an English teacher in a comprehensive school.
Linda is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation and is a member of the Society of Authors and the Scattered Authors' Society.
Mary Norton
Mary Norton was born in London in 1903, and brought up in Bedfordshire, which was the setting for The Borrowers. In 1941 she was given a war job in America, and worked for two years for the British Purchasing Commission in New York. It was during this time that she began to write. After the war, she moved back to England with her family and continued writing and acting. Mary Norton died in 1992.
Natasha Ngan
Natasha Ngan is a writer and yoga teacher. She grew up between Malaysia, where the Chinese side of her family is from, and the UK. This multicultural upbringing continues to influence her writing, and she is passionate about bringing diverse stories to teens. Natasha studied geography at the University of Cambridge before working as a social media consultant and fashion blogger.
She recently moved to Paris, where she likes to imagine she drifts stylishly from brasserie to brasserie, notepad in one hand, wine glass in the other. In reality, she spends most of her time getting lost on the metro and confusing locals with her French. Her young adult novels are The Elites, The Memory Keepers and, most recently, Girls of Paper and Fire. Natasha is also co-owner of fashion, travel and lifestyle blog Girl in the Lens.
Patrick Ness
Patrick grew up in the US and studied English Literature at the University of Southern California. He moved to London in 1999. Since then he has published four novels. The Knife of Never Letting Go won numerous awards, including the Book Trust Teenage Prize, the Guardian Award, and the 2008 James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In January 2010 he won the 2009 Costa Book Award for the category children's book for The Ask and the Answer. He has also written a novel and a collection of short stories for adults, although he prefers not to categorise his writing in this way.
He taught creative writing at Oxford University and has written and reviewed for The Daily Telegraph, The TLS, The Sunday Telegraph and The Guardian.
Patrick Ness was Book Trust's first-ever online writer in residence.
Sally Nicholls
Sally Nicholls is a prize-winning British children's book author. Nicholls was born and grew up in Stockton-on-Tees, England. On finishing school, Nicholls chose to travel around the world. Nicholls' first three novels all have death as the central theme.
Scott Nash
Scott Nash has illustrated many books for children, including Betsy Who Cried Wolf! by Gail Carson Levine, Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields, Over the Moon by Rachel Vail, and Oh, Tucker! by Steven Kroll. He lives with his wife, Nancy, and their dog, Zephyr, in Peaks Island, Maine.
William Nicholson
William Nicholson was for many years a television producer, making documentary films. This lead to writing television plays (Shadowlands, Life Story, Sweet as You Are, The March), and then stage plays (Shadowlands, Map of the Heart, Katherine Howard, The Retreat from Moscow) and films (Shadowlands, Sarafina, Nell, First Knight, Gladiator). He is married with three children.