In the Reading Corner

JonArno Lawson: Wise Up!! Wise Down!

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nikki Gamble talks to CLiPPA shortlisted poet JonArno Lawson about his co-authored poetry collection (with John Agard) Wise Up! Wise Down!Jon talks ab...

Brian Bilston: Let Sleeping Cats Lie

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the second of our podcasts with CLiPPA shortlisted poets, Nikki Gamble talks to Brian Bilston about his collection of pet poems, Let Sleeping Cats ...

Jane Newbery - CLiPPA shortlisted poet

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nikki Gamble talks to Jan Newbery about her CLiPPa shortlisted collection, Big Red Dragon, and writing verse for very young children and their adults....

Jenny Downham and Louis Hill: Let the Light In

26 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jenny Downham and Louis Hill are the mother and son writing partners of the YA novel Let the Light In. In this interview, they talk with Nikki Gamble ...

The Pinchers with Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson

12 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson are the creative duo behind The Pinchers. Originally published in Swedish, the books have been translated into Engl...

Jeremy Strong: Fox Goes North

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Strong's final novel, Fox Goes North, is a beautifully written fable about a brave, loyal and quirky group of friends who travel together ...

Elle McNicoll: Keedie

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Elle McNicoll talks to Nikki Gamble about her novel, Keedie, the prequel to her novel, A Kind of Spark, now a BBC television series.A...

Clare Pollard: The Untameables

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Nikki Gamble talks to award-winning poet, novelist, playwright, and literary critic Clare Pollard about her debut children's nov...

Jodie Lancet-Grant: The Wild West Twins

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jodie Lancet-Grant is the author of The Pirate Mums and The Marvellous Doctors for Magical Creatures. and The Legend of the Wild West Twins, The Pirat...

Lucy Strange: The Island at the Edge of Night

06 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After training as an actor and working as an English teacher, Lucy published her first novel, The Secret of Nightingale Wood, which won the 2014 Monte...

Maya Wei-Haas: What a Rock Can Reveal

04 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nikki Gamble talks to science journalist and author Maya Wei-Haas about her recently published book, What A  Rock Can Reveal.The discussion ranges fr...

Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's 20 years since the publication of Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men, the first book in the Tiffany Aching arc within the Discworld ser...

Peter Brown - Running wild with robots

08 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Brown is an American writer and illustrator. He is the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for his illustration of Creepy Carrots (written by Aaron...

We've Got This! Reflections on empathy with Rashmi Siredeshpande and Miranda McKearney

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is the author of We've Got This! Six Steps to Build Empathy and Miranda McKearney is a founder and director of Empathy Lab. I...

Pippa Funnell

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Funnell is well-known for her equestrian achievements. She's an Olympic medalist and Rolex Grand Slam winner 2003.  She is also the author...

Roland Chambers - The Adventures of Billy Shaman

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Roland Chambers is a writer, illustrator and storyteller. He is the author of a biography about Arthur Ransome and the children's stories, Nelly ...

Jo Ellen Bogart and Maja Kastelic

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jo Ellen Bogart and Maya Kastelic are the joint creators of the wordless picture book, Anthony and the Gargoyle. In this episode, they talk about thei...

David Wolstencroft - The Magic Hour

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

David Wolstencroft is a screenwriter who has notched up a number of BAFTA awards, including one for the TV spy drama Spooks. He has also written two s...

Mark Bradley - Bumble and Snug

27 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Bradley is a comics writer and artist who lives in Yorkshire with his family. He grew up reading stories about ghosts and monsters and promptly d...

Jasmine Richards

09 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jasmine Richards is an author, editor and entrepreneur. She's the founder of Storymix, a company with a mission to increase the visibility of cha...

Kwame Alexander - The Door of No Return

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kwame Alexander is an American poet and author of books for children, including the verse novel The Crossover, which was awarded the Newbery Medal in ...

Mariajo Illustrajo - Lost

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mariajo Illustrajo is a Spanish designer, printmaker and illustrator living in the UK. After studying at the art school in Madrid, she moved to Bath, ...

Shirley Marr - All Four Quarters of the Moon

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shirley Marr is a Chinese-Australian author who migrated from Singapore with her family in the 1980s. Her novel, A Glasshouse of Stars, which won the ...

Deborah Ellis - One More Mountain

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Deborah Ellis works as a mental health residential counsellor in Toronto. She is the winner of the Governor General's Award in Canada (equivalent...

Abi Elphinstone - Saving Neverland

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Abi Elphinstone is a writer of children's fantasy stories, including The Dream Snatcher, Sky Song and Rumblestar. She has also written pictureboo...

Peter Lantos: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Die

15 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Neuroscientishttps://justimagine.co.uk/review/the-boy-who-didnt-want-to-die/t and Holocaust survivor, Peter Lantos, has written a children's book...

Berlie Doherty: The Haunted Hills

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Berlie Doherty is one of our foremost fiction writers for children and young adults. She is a double recipient of the Carnegie Medal with her novels G...

Emily Gravett - on picture books

23 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Emily Gravett achieved instant success with the publication of her debut picture book, Wolves - a university project that was awarded the Macmillan P...

Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott - All the Pieces of Me

04 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Neurodivergent teenager, Libby Scott tells us how she came to be a published author and her partnership with author Rebecca Westcott. Libby and Rebecc...

Kelly Yang - a Chinese American Experience

03 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Front desk series, two YA novels and a non-fiction book about the Chinese American exper...

David Atherton - Baking with Children

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

David Atherton is a food writer and presenter. In 2019, he won The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 and has since been featured on Steph’s Packed...

Peter Kalu - One Drop

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Kalu is a poet, fiction writer and playwright. He was a member of Manchester, UK’s Moss Side Write black writers workshop and has had nine no...

Kandace Chimbiri - The Story of Britain's Black Airmen

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kandace Chimbiri (writing as K.N. Chimbiri) started as a self-published author.She didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer. However, she was greatly d...

Malcolm Duffy - Read Between the Lies

27 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Newcastle-born author, Malcolm Duffy, has a background in advertising.  And has won numerous awards for copy, press, TV and radio. He worked for Comi...

Greg Jenner - You Are History

27 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Greg Jenner is a public historian specialising in public engagement. He's an author and award-winning podcaster.His smash hit podcast 'You&a...

Sarah Roberts - When Somebody Woke Wilson

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Naturalist, eco-journalist and activist Sarah Roberts is the author of three children's picture books about environmental concerns.Somebody Swall...

Nyanda Foday and Joelle Avalino

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nyanda Foday was Birmingham's Young Poet Laureate 2016-2018, and is inspired by the impact that words can have to create, unite, explain and enjo...

Juliette Forrest - The Mountain Rescue Dog

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Scottish author Juliette Forrest is the award-winning author of Twister,  The True Colours of Coral Glen, and The Night My Dream Came Alive.Twister ...

The Wainwright Prize

23 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Named after nature writer Alfred Wainwright, the  Wainwright prizes are awarded to the work which best reflects Wainwright’s core values and includ...

Philip Ardagh and Ben Mantle

23 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Ardagh is one of the funniest children's writers, and Ben Mantle is a well-loved illustrator. The combination of talents produced the expl...

Sophie McKenzie - Truth or Dare

23 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sophie McKenzie is the undisputed queen of the teen thriller. After being made redundant from her job in 2003, she started a year-long 'Writing f...

A M Dassu - Fight Back

23 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A. M. Dassu is an English writer of fiction and non-fiction. In 2017, Dassu won the international. We Need Diverse Books mentorship award. Her bestsel...

Naomi Walmsley - Live Like a Hunter Gatherer

02 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Naomi Walmsley runs Outback2Basics with her husband, Dan. She has a passion for teaching young people Stone Age education and Bushcraft, and she also ...

Frances Hardinge - Unraveller

02 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Frances Hardinge is a British novelist whose debut novel, Fly by Night, won the Branford Boase Award in 2006 ( awarded to the writer and editor of the...

Petr Horacek - A Best Friend for Bear

30 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Petr Horacek is a children's picturebook creator with a background in fine art. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia and at the age of 15 attend...

SF Said - Tyger

30 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

SF Said is a British children's writer with a Middle Eastern background. He was born in Beirut and spent his early childhood in Jordan.His first ...

Angela Sangma - Mountains and Rivers

29 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Angela Sangma Francis, writing as Sangma Francis, worked as an in-house editor and writer for publisher Flying Eye before branching out as a full-time...

Manon Steffan Ros - The Blue Book of Nebo

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Manon Steffan Ros is a Welsh novelist, playwright, games author, scriptwriter and musician (being one half of the acoustic duo 'Blodau Gwylltion&...

Ian Livingstone - Fighting Fantasy

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Livingstone is the co-founder with Steve Jackson of the phenomenally successful Fighting Fantasy Series.   Fighting Fantasy, which employs role p...

Rashmi Sirdeshpande - Dadaji's Paintbrush

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer turned children's author who loves taking big ideas and making them accessible and exciting for young readers. Ra...

Patrice Lawrence - The Elemental Detectives

01 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Patrice Lawrence was born in Brighton and raised in an Italian and Trinidadian household. Her first book for young adults, Orangeboy, was shortlisted ...

Donna and Vikesh Amey Bhatt: Lands of Belonging

13 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Donna and Vikesh Amey Bhat are the husband and wife team who wrote Lands of Belonging, a history of the South Asian countries that are intertwined wit...

James Dixon - The Billow Maiden

12 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

James Dixon is a London-born, Glasgow-based novelist, poet, and playwright. His debut novel, The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle (Thistle, ...

Ewa Jozefkowicz - The Dragon in the Bookshop

07 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ewa Jozefkowicz grew up in Ealing, and studied English Literature at UCL. Her debut novel The Mystery of the Colour Thief, published by Zephyr in 2018...

Nicolette Jones - Writes of Passage

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nicolette Jones is the children's book editor of the Sunday Times, and she has been a reviewer, feature writer, diarist, and book-prize judge. In...

Joanthan Tulloch - Cuckoo Summer

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Former teacher, Jonathan Tulloch, is a journalist,  writer and naturalist whose nature features appear regularly in The Times and The Tablet, His deb...

Steve Cole - Stitched Up

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Cole has been a previous guest In The Reading Corner. We have talked about humour, comics and Dr Who. This time our conversation centres on four...

Craig Caudill - The Secret Signs of Nature

10 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Craig Caudill is an award-winning educator, naturalist and writer. He spent his formative years hunting, fishing and playing in the woods of Kentucky....

Lauren Wolk - My Own Lightning

10 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lauren Wolk is an American author, poet and editor. Born in Baltimore, she studied English literature at Brown University graduating in 1981. Wolk won...

Atinuke - Too Small Tola Gets Tough

10 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Atinuke was born and grew up in Nigeria. She writes children's books because she loves the vibrancy, joy, wisdom and humour of her  African cult...

Jon Arno Lawson - A Day for Sandcastles

23 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

JonArno Lawson is a Canadian writer who has published many books for children and adults, was born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in nearby Dundas. H...

Phil Earle - While the Storm Rages

23 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Phil Earle was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal with When the Sky Falls.  his hard-hitting emotional story,  which highlights the plight of zoo an...

Polly Dunbar - Ready for Spaghetti

19 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Polly Dunbar is an English author-illustrator. She is best known for her self-illustrated books Penguin, the Tilly and Friends series,  which was mad...

Jarvis - The Boy With Flowers in His Hair

12 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jarvis studied graphic design and previously worked as a record sleeve designer, website designer, and animation director before becoming a children’...

Jennifer Bell - Legendarium

12 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Legendarium is the final book in Jennifer Bell's gaming fantasy adventure duology, which began with Wonderscape.This time our heroes are propelle...

Sophie Anderson - The Thief Who Sang Storms

12 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sophie Anderson is well-loved for her fantasy novels that draw on Slavic and Russian folklore. Sophie dropped into the reading corner to talk about he...

Rich Knight - If I Ran the Country

11 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With a long career in factual radio programming and podcasting,  and now working in the role of Commissioning Editor - Factual, BBC Radio 4, Rich Kni...

Justin Anderson - Narwhal the Arctic Unicorn

05 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Justin Anderson is a wildlife and adventure filmmaker. He produced and directed the ‘Mountains’ segment of Planet Earth II which featured the firs...

Anthony Horowitz - Where Seagulls Dare

05 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Horowitz is well-known for his top-selling Alex Rider and for his television writing.  He is also the author of the brilliant Diamond Brother...

Jim Smith - Total Winner

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jim Smith is the British children’s author and illustrator of the Barry Loser and Future Ratboy series. Before creating the hugely popular Barry Los...

Justyn Edwards - The Great Fox Illusion

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Justyn Edwards graduated from Southampton University with a degree in archaeology. Since then he has worked as a caravan park attendant, a paperboy an...

Sharna Jackson - The Good Turn

21 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sharna Jackson is an arts educator and author of children's books. She garnered critical acclaim with her first novel, The High Rise Mystery, fea...

Mini Grey: The Greatest Show on Earth

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mini Grey is one of the UK's best-loved illustrators with her witty visual and linguistic style that incorporates found objects and is characteri...

Elizabeth Uviebinene - The Offline Diaries

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth Uviebinene studied Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick and then worked as a Marketing manager in the city. It wa...

Nicola Davies and Jenni Desmond

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Children's author, Nicola Davies is a zoologist by training.  She was one of the original presenters of the BBC children's wildlife program...

Annaliese Avery - The World of Nightsilver

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Annaliese Avery is a former library manager and children's book editor who lives in Suffolk, England. She has an MA in creative writing and a lif...

Lucy Hawking - Princess Olivia Investigates

07 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lucy Hawking is a journalist, writer and science educator. With her father, the late Professor Stephen Hawking, she co-authored a series of books, Geo...

Jennifer Killick - Dread Wood

06 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer has always wanted to be a writer, but really started when she applied for a Creative Writing MA at Brunel University, which is where she firs...

Katie Cotton - The Secret of Splint Hall

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Katie Cotton studied English Literature at Oxford University before becoming an author and editor of children’s books. Her books Counting Lions and ...

Lissa Evans - Wished

04 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lissa Evans has written books for both adults and children, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half, longlisted for the Or...

Tony Bradman - Viking Boy The Real Story

27 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tony Bradman's Viking Boy is a popular book in primary classrooms, often used to support a historical study of The Vikings. Now Tony has written ...

Emma Chichester Clark - Mister Toots

19 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Emma Chichester Clark is one of the UK's foremost illustrators. She has published well over 60 books for children including her own very popular ...

Lee Newbery - The Last Firefox

19 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lee Newbery's debut novel, The Last Firefox was recently published by Puffin.  It's a fantasy adventure in which another world bursts into ...

Kate di Camillo - The Beatryce Prophecy

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kate di Camillo is an American children's author with over 25 novels on her backlist. Her first novel Because of Winn Dixie won her immediate cri...

Discover Undiscovered Voices

17 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Undiscovered Voices is an initiative from SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Illustrators and Writers) which gives a platform to up and coming voi...

Natasha Farrant - The Girl Who Talked to Trees

12 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Natasha Farrant has a long career in children's publishing and has her own literary scouting agency.Her debut YA novel The Things We Did for Love...

Catherine Rayner - My Pet Goldfish

12 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Rayner is well-known for her glorious animal picture stories, but now she turns her skills to illustrating nonfiction. IN this episode she t...

William Sieghart - Everyone Sang

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

William Matthew Timothy Stephen Sieghart CBE is a British entrepreneur, publisher and philanthropist and the founder of the Forward Prizes for Poetry....

Paul Jennings - a writing life

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Jennings was born in 1943 in Heston, Middlesex and emigrated to Australia with his family in 1943.After graduating, he became a teacher and speec...

Tamzin Merchant - The Mapmakers

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Actress Tmazin Merchant recently published her second children's book, The Map Makers, a second adventure for the sparky heroine, Cordelia Hatmak...

Gill Lewis - A Dog Named Pup

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gill Lewis is a highly acclaimed author of children's books featuring animals, environmental concerns, wildlife protection with a strong sense of...

Anne Fine - Shades of Scarlet

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Former Children's Laureate, Anne Fine, is one of our finest novelists for children and teenagers. Characteristically her stories reveal acute obs...

Sam Copeland - Greta and the Ghost Hunters

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Literary agent and former bookseller, Sam Copeland has risen quickly to the heights of bestselling author with his blend of humour and emotionally eng...

Sarah Ardizzone - Open Up the World with Translated Books

21 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Ardizzone is an established and highly regarded literary translator of books from French into English. She has a particular interest in the tran...

Eoin McLaughlin - I Am NOT an Octopus

19 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Eoin McLaughlin is a writer of children's picturebooks.His debut picture book The Hug (illustrated by Polly Dunbar) was named a ‘Book of the Ye...

Lisa Thompson - The Rollercoaster Boy

19 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lisa Thompson is a children’s novelist born in Essex, UK.  Her debut novel, The Goldfish Boy, was published in the UK and North America in 2017 and...

Lisette Auton - The Secret of Haven Point

19 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lisette Auton is a disabled writer, activist, poet, novelist, spoken-word artist, actor, film & theatre-maker and creative practitioner. She'...

Roma Agrawal - How Was That Built?

18 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Roma Agrawal MBE FICE HonFREng is an Indian-British-American chartered structural engineer based in London. She has worked on several major engineerin...

Andrew Pettie - When Looks Matter

10 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Pettie is a writer and editor at What on Earth Books and the recently launched Britannica Magazine.Andrew joined Nikki Gamble for this episode ...

Katherine Webber - The Revelry

10 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Original from California, Katherine Webber has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Maui and Atlanta but now lives in London. As well as being an establishe...