Since 2009, we’ve welcomed a range of brilliant children and teen authors. They have written blogs, held competitions and events, met children and given us their take on what it’s like to be behind some of the best books out there.
Previous Writers in Residence
Every six months, we appoint a new Writer in Residence to give us their unique perspective on the world of children’s books. Meet some of our previous Writers in Residence and find out what they got up to.
Meet our most recent Writers in Residence
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Camilla Reid was our Writer in Residence from March 2025 to August 2025, and was the first Baby-and-Toddler author to take on the role. She chose the theme ‘books are the best start in life’.
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Patrice Lawrence was our Writer in Residence from September 2024 to March 2025, and her remit was to champion reading for pleasure for children facing challenging circumstances.
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Rashmi Sirdeshpande was our Writer in Residence from March 2024 to September 2024. She used her residency to champion the benefits of an underrated form of storytelling: children’s non-fiction books and factual books.
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Our Writer in Residence from September 2023 to March 2024 was Michelle Robinson. Robinson’s core mission during her residency with BookTrust was to encourage children and grown-ups to “have fun reading together”.
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SF Said was our Writer in Residence from March to September 2023. He used his residency to champion the importance of encouraging children to read whichever books they most enjoy. He challenged the idea of there being a “right and wrong” way for children to engage with books. His message is that every child can be a reader.
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Author and illustrator Nick Sharratt was our Writer-Illustrator in Residence from September 2022 to March 2023. During his time in the role, he celebrated the extraordinary power of pictures and visual images in children’s books and the crucial role they play in enriching a child’s experience when it comes to reading.
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Legendary poet and author Michael Rosen was our Writer in Residence from March to September 2022. During his time in the role, he promoted the importance of reading and rhyming with children in their early years and shared lots of tips about how to read books with little ones.
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Dapo Adeola was Writer-Illustrator in Residence from September 2021 until March 2022. During this time, Dapo’s theme for the residency was “The Art of Storytelling” and he focused on supporting emerging illustrators, in particular under-represented voices in children’s books.
Our Writers in Residence 2009–2021
Onjali Q. Raúf was Writer in Residence from March 2021 until September 2021. In the role, she highlighted various political issues, from human rights to the environment to poverty and racism, and how these can be explored through books and writing – and how books can inspire us to take action too.
Smriti Halls was Writer in Residence from September 2020 until March 2021. During this time, she focused on helping children navigate tricky times and new experiences – whether learning at home, solving friendship difficulties, getting to know a new sibling, or thinking about some of the challenges facing our world.
Ed Vere was Writer-Illustrator in Residence from March 2020 until September 2020. During this time, Ed advocated for the power of pictures and visual literacy.
Cerrie Burnell was Writer in Residence from September 2019 until March 2020. During this time, she explored the power of fairy tales and the importance of diverse and inclusive stories. She shared her passion for storytelling and her experiences of dyslexia and also ran a creative writing competition for primary school children.
Candy Gourlay was Writer-Illustrator in Residence from March until September 2019. During this time, she explored the theme of books as both windows and mirrors to the world.
Nicola Davies was Writer-Illustrator in Residence from August 2018 until February 2019. During this time, she focused on urging children to explore the natural world around them. Nicola drew on her experience as a zoologist, former Wildlife presenter and now creative writing teacher and author to encourage children to discover more about nature through words and pictures.
Nadia Shireen was our Writer in Residence from February to August 2018. She got children everywhere writing themselves as the star of their stories, and also blogged about funny picture books, school libraries and how to write children’s books for a living.
Taran Matharu was our Writer in Residence from August 2017 to February 2018. It was a brilliant residency of demon drawing, gaming books and tips on how to score that publishing deal (not necessarily in the traditional way).
Sarah McIntyre was our Writer-Illustrator in Residence from February to August 2017 – and she got us all wanting to draw unicorns.
How To Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell was BookTrust’s 14th Writer in Residence, taking up the job from August 2016-January 2017. She has also been the Children’s Laureate.
Heroic author Phil Earle was BookTrust’s 13th Writer in Residence, taking on the six-month role in January 2016.
Red Leaves author Sita Brahmachari was BookTrust’s 12th Writer in Residence, beginning her time in the role in February 2015 and using her blogs to champion diversity in children’s books.
BookTrust’s 11th Writer in Residence Philip Ardagh stepped into the role for six months from 2014–2015, and kicked off by writing about the importance of inclusivity in children’s books.
Chris Riddell was BookTrust’s tenth Writer in Residence, taking up the role in January 2014 – just a year before he became Children’s Laureate.
BookTrust’s ninth Writer in Residence Laura Dockrill certainly made the most of her time in the role, hosting an event celebrating children’s books and female characters and also interviewing writer and broadcaster Caitlin Moran.
Matt Haig was BookTrust’s eighth Writer in Residence and gave us a frank and honest look at the writing process… as well as launching his novel The Humans at a special event.
BookTrust’s seventh Writer in Residence Hannah Berry used her time to champion the role of graphic novels and hosted a sell-out event about why comics are as important as traditional literature.
Award-winning teen and young adult author Bali Rai was Book Trust’s sixth online Writer in Residence.
He blogged about issues facing young people, literacy and the importance of reading for pleasure, and also hosted a successful panel at London Book Fair where he got teenagers to tell publishers what they wanted to read.
Award-winning short story writer Clare Wigfall was BookTrust’s fifth online Writer in Residence and blogged about writing short stories, working on picture books, travelling, and music.
She also hosted a successful event on the power of the short story to a packed-out crowd.
As BookTrust’s fourth writer in residence, Polly Dunbar invited us into her sketchbook.
As BookTrust’s third Writer in Residence, Evie blogged about her work and writing her second novel.
She also opened up about the paperback release of her debut novel, shared her thoughts on independent bookselling, provided an exclusive short story, and interviewed one of her favourite authors.
Nii, BookTrust’s second Writer in Residence, blogged about his work, wrote us a poem, shared his writing tips, helped us to celebrate National Bookstart Day and much more.
Patrick Ness was BookTrust’s first ever Writer in Residence and used the post to blog about his writing and contribute lots of exciting stuff.