Children's Writers & Illustrators Festival 2025: MASTERCLASS+

Camilla Chester describes herself as a dog walker who writes. After receiving a distinction in a Diploma for Creative Writing and Literacy, Camilla went on to self-publish three children’s novels. She was a finalist in the National Literacy Trust New Author Award 2016 and Mslexia Children’s Novel Award 2019.

Camilla’s children’s novel, entitled Call Me Lion, published by Firefly Press in June 2022 centres around a boy with Selective Mutism (SM). Call Me Lion was shortlisted for the Oxfordshire and Portsmouth Awards in 2023, won the SCBWI 2023 Crystal Kite Award, was shortlisted in the 2024 UKLA Award, is part of the Books for Topics selection, was selected in the 2023 Read For Empathy List and 2024 Summer Reading Challenge. It is published in Germany, France and Japan and sold in Sweden. Call Me Lion is widely used in UK schools, increasing understanding, compassion and awareness around SM.

Camilla also writes for the popular online school resources, Serial Mash and Fiction Express and works freelance for Writers & Artists. Camilla has a long history of supporting other writers both voluntary and through her freelance work. She has a very practical eye and likes nothing more than helping writers find the heart of their story

In June 2025, Bloomsbury will publish Sara’s The Ultimate Guide to Editing Your Novel: A revolutionary approach to transform your writing, which is a step-by-step guide on how to edit and revise a novel for children/teens. Sara writes and edits fiction for children and teens. Dark Parties, her first young adult novel, won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Crystal Kite Award for Europe. Ten of her books have been traditionally published, for a range of ages and across several genres.

As an editor of series fiction, she has worked on fifteen different series and edited nearly 100 books. She’s consults with Storymix, an inclusive fiction studio, helping develop exciting and engaging stories with children of colour at the heart. She’s taught master’s courses on writing for children/teens at Goldsmiths University and the University of Winchester. She has given writing workshops in the US, UK and Europe. She co-founded Undiscovered Voices – which has launched the writing careers of more than a hundred authors and illustrators, who now have published more than 400 children’s books.

Sara was born and raised in Washington, Indiana. She graduated from Indiana University with degrees in journalism and psychology, and later she earned a master’s degree in creative and life writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She lives in London.

Hiba Noor Khan is the award-winning author of seven books for children. These include her debut novel; Safiyyah's War, which won the Indie Book Award and Jhalak Prize in 2024, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, as well as the Kirkus Prize in the USA. She has written a picture book - The Little War Cat, and non-fiction; Inspiring Inventors and One Home. Her books have been recognised by numerous national awards and have been translated into over ten languages, and her newest novel; The Line they Drew Through Us, explores the Partition of India and is due to publish in April '25. Her academic background is in engineering/physics, and she has worked as a journalist, a refugee advocate, assisted the United Nations IOM, and has recently completed an MA at SOAS exploring Muslim Minorities in Global Contexts. She has three fluffy cats and is happiest when surrounded by nature.

Clara Kumagai is from Canada, Japan and Ireland. Her fiction and non-fiction for children and adults has been published in The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, Banshee and The Kyoto Journal. Her debut YA novel, Catfish Rolling (Zephyr, 2023), blends magical realism with Japanese myth in an original story about grief and memory. Catfish Rolling was nominated for the 2023 Carnegie Medal for Writing, a finalist for the 2023 Great Reads Award and won the 2023 KPMG Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Award.

Laura Mucha is an ex-lawyer turned poet and Author-in-Residence in the Department of Public Health & Primary Care, University of Cambridge. Her writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in hospitals, hospices, prisons, books, magazines and newspapers around the world.

Her books have been described as ‘stunningly original’ (BookTrust), ‘fantastic’ (Daily Mail), ‘brilliant’ (The Telegraph), ‘a must for every school library and classroom’ (The School Librarian) and ‘a marvellous feat’ (Richard Curtis). When not writing, Laura spends her time visiting schools around the world and working with organisations such as the Royal Society of Medicine, National Literacy Trust and UNICEF to try to improve the lives of children.

Laura has always had an insatiable love of stories, so it was almost fated that one day she would write some of her own. As a disabled author, she strives to tell stories where disabled kids are the heroes. Her debut book, Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star, was published by HarperCollins Children's Books in 2023, with the sequel following in 2024. She lives in beautiful Bedfordshire with her husband, Connor, and two cats, Scout and Sunny.

Alysoun Owen is the Editor of the annual bestselling Writers' & Artists' Yearbook and the Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, which provide advice and contacts for authors across all forms and genres on how to write and get published. She runs a publishing consultancy, is the author of the Writers' & Artists' Guide to Getting Published and is a regular speaker at literary and publishing-related events.

Jasmine Richards read English Language and Literature at Oxford University and has over 18 years of experience in children's publishing. She was the Lead Editor on the multi-million-selling series Beast Quest and has written a dozen books for children, including The Unmorrow Curse and Myth Keeper. 

Jasmine has also been a screenwriter on Disney's PJ Masks and BBC's JoJo and Gran Gran. In 2019, she founded Storymix, a multi-award-winning fiction studio dedicated to centring children and teens of colour in stories filled with joy and adventure. In 2023, Jasmine received a prestigious special commendation in the Editor of the Year category at the British Book Awards. She is also a Bookseller Rising Star and the creator of The Write Beach Hut, a creative sanctuary by the sea which is designed to nurture and empower writers and creatives through workshops, mentoring, and affordable writing retreats.

Chitra Soundar is an internationally published, award-winning author of children’s books, screenwriter and an oral storyteller. She has published over 20 picture books worldwide and also writes chapter books, poetry and theatre for kids. Her latest picture books are It’s Time to Hush and Say Goodnight (Walker Books, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat) and Garland of Lights (Bloomsbury, illustrated by Amberin Huq). She is the creator of Nikhil & Jay, a BBC preschool sitcom. She is the founder of The Colourful Bookshelf, a curated list of children’s books by British writers and illustrators of colour and the co-founder of SAILFest UK, a festival that celebrates British South Asian illustration and literature.

Chanté Timothy is an award-winning Author-Illustrator known for her vibrant and captivating artwork in children’s books. She has illustrated notable works such as Daddy Do My Hair: Beth’s Twists by Tolá Okogwu and Hey You! by Dapo Adeola, which was featured in The British Book Awards Children's Illustrated Book of the Year 2022. Chanté is also the author-illustrator of the upcoming book series Supa Nova, launching in 2025. Her work celebrates diversity and creativity, aiming to inspire young readers and foster a love for storytelling.

Alex Wheatle is the author of several acclaimed novels, many of them inspired by experiences from his childhood. He was born in Brixton to Jamaican parents and spent most of his childhood in a Surrey children's home. After a short stint in prison following the Brixton uprising of 1981, he wrote poems and lyrics and became known as the Brixton bard. Alex has been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Carnegie Medal and the YA Book Prize. He won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 2008.

Harry Woodgate is an award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of children's books including Grandad's Camper, Grandad's Pride, Timid and many more. Harry is passionate about creating uplifting, inclusive stories that inspire children to be creative, curious, compassionate and proud of what makes them unique.

In 2022, their debut picture book, Grandad's Camper, won Best Illustrated Book at the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, followed in 2023 by Children's Illustrated Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Harry's books have been published in numerous countries and have been recognised by The Week Junior Book Awards, Indie Book Awards, Little Rebels Award, Diverse Book Awards, Polari Prize, Lambda Literary Awards and ALA Stonewall Book Awards, amongst others.

In addition to writing and illustrating their own books, Harry has illustrated picture books by other authors including the My Small World series by Caryl Hart, non-fiction books like How to Spaghettify Your Dog by Hiba Noor Khan and My First Baking Book by Great British Bake Off winner David Atherton, short story anthologies including The Very Merry Murder Club, co-edited by Robin Stevens and Serena Patel, and classic fairy tales like The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde. In 2025, Harry's debut middle-grade series as author and illustrator, Cinnamon Crumb: Baking Detective will be published by Usborne.