Young Adult Crime Fiction Fest

She has published 30 books ranging from picture books to novels and has been translated into 10 languages. Rachael has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, longlisted for the Diverse Book Awards and shortlisted for the Inclusive Books for Children Awards. Her debut YA Oxford Blood was The Bookseller’s Book of the Month and a Season Top 10 highlight. Rachael co-founded Creative Roots Studio which helps creatives build sustainable careers and she was selected as Rising Star by The Bookseller. Rachael is also a Royal Literary Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford and recently completed her PhD in authentic representation in children’s literature at Bath Spa University.

She has also written stories for Marvel's Spider-Verse and BBC's Doctor Who. In 2024, she was a World Book Day author with her title The Doomday Date. Faridah is an avid tea drinker, a collector of strange mugs, and a graduate from a university in Scotland where she received a BA in English Literature. She also has an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King's College London. When she isn't spinning dark tales, Faridah can be found examining the deeper meanings in Disney Channel original movies.

Growing up, Ravena always read the last page of books first, but discovering Agatha Christie in her early teens stopped that habit, igniting a love of twisty murder mysteries with jaw-dropping endings the reader never saw coming. A born and bred Londoner, she is a lawyer with a degree in biochemistry, and uses the knowledge she's gained to plot perfect murders (only for her books, of course). Ravena's bestselling YA thrillers have been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize, the British Book Awards' Children's Fiction Book of the Year and many more.

He has interviewed a host of glitzy celebrities and broke the news that Rihanna can't wink (she blinks, in case you were wondering). His award-winning middle-grade debut, Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow, was described as 'One of the most joyful books you'll read this year' (The Bookseller), and he's since gone on to publish The Secret Sunshine Project, as well The King is Dead and How to Die Famous for older readers. Benjamin can be found on X as @notagainben posting about Rihanna and LGBTQ+ culture to his 10,000+ followers.

Her first novel Finding Violet Park won the Guardian prize and was followed by Broken Soup, The Ant Colony, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight, the Carnegie shortlisted Fire Colour One and Us in the Before and After, as well as Iggy and Me, a series for younger children and the middle grade trilogies A girl called Joy and Daisy Brewster. Her work has been published in 19 countries.  In 2017/18 she was the Hay Festival International Fellow, spending the year meeting and learning from teenagers all over the world. 

Her debut novel High-Rise Mystery (2019) won numerous awards and accolades including Best Book for Younger Readers at the 2020 Waterstones Book Prize. Sharna also develops books to encourage participation in the arts, with two activity books released with Tate in 2014 and Black Artists Shaping the World in 2021. She was Southbank Centre’s Imagine A Story Author in 2019/20 creating London/Londoff with over 1200 school children in the capital. She was recently the Artistic Director at Site Gallery, an international contemporary art space in Sheffield, UK, and was formerly the editor of the Tate Kids website. Sharna was a member of BAFTA’s Children’s and Learning and New Talent committees and the Children’s Media Conference advisory board. She was also on the board of Sheffield Doc/Fest and New Writing North. She curates Ensemble – a show highlighting ethnic minority talent and achievement in the UK games industry. She was the Artistic Director of Playground – an exhibition showcasing work that blends digital play with physical objects. Sharna was Deputy Story Lead on Saltsea Chronicles, an adventure game released on PS5 and Switch in late 2023 produced by Denmark-based developers Die Gute Fabrik.