Enid Blyton is one of the worlds' best-loved storytellers. Her books have sold over 500 million copies and have been translated into more languages more often than any other children's author. She wrote over 700 books and 2, 000 short stories, including favourites such as The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Magic Faraway Tree and Malory Towers. Born in London in 1897, Enid lived much of her life in Buckinghamshire and adored dogs, gardening and the countryside.
She died in 1968 but remains one of the world's best-loved storytellers.
Rebecca Westcott was born in Chester. As a trained teacher, she has worked in some unusual places, including a Category C male prison. Her first novel Dandelion Clocks was published in 2014, longlisted for the Branford Boase award and widely acclaimed, including by Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy. Aside from writing, Rebecca teaches music in a primary school in Dorset, where she lives with her husband and three children.
Narinder Dhami is the author of popular fiction series The Beautiful Game, about a girls' football team, many books in the hugely successful Rainbow Magic series and the bestselling novelisation of the film Bend it Like Beckham.
She was a primary teacher before she began writing full time. She lives with her husband in Shropshire.
Patrice Lawrence was born in Brighton and brought up in an Italian-Trinidadian household in Mid Sussex. This meant great holidays and even better food. Her first novel, Orangeboy, won the Waterstones Book Prize for Older Readers and the Bookseller YA Book Prize. Her second novel, Indigo Donut, and her fourth novel, Eight Pieces of Silva won the Crimefest Award for young adults.
Eight Pieces of Silva was also awarded the inaugural Jhalak Prize for children and young people and the Woman & Home Bookclub Teen Drama of the Year. Patrice's ideal mixtape includes drum 'n' bass, Bruce Springsteen and Studio Ghibli soundtracks. Music can't help creeping into her books.
Lucy Mangan is an award-winning columnist for Stylist magazine, the Guardian TV critic and author of the widely acclaimed Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading, which celebrates her lifelong passion for stories, including those of Enid Blyton.
