speaker biographies

Kasim Ali works at Amazon Publishing, having previously worked for Penguin Random House. His writing has been shortlisted for Hachette’s Mo Siewcherran Prize, longlisted for the 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, and has contributed to The Good Journal.

He comes from Birmingham and now lives in London. His debut novel, Good Intentions, is published by 4th Estate.

www.juskasim.com

Twitter: @juskasim

Dr Charley Barnes is an author and academic based in Worcestershire, UK. She is a lecturer in Creative and Professional Writing at the University of Wolverhampton, and she has lectured at various institutes around the West Midlands on a freelance term. Charley is also a workshop facilitator, private tutor and editor.

Charley has published widely in both poetry and prose. Her most recent poetry publication is a collaborative effort, co-authored with Claire Walker, titled Myth | Woman. Her most recent prose work, The Things I Didn’t Do, is a thriller, published by Bloodhound Books.

www.charleybarneswriter.com/

Twitter: @charleyblogs

Nina Das Gupta is a radio reporter and presenter on BBC Hereford and Worcester.

Twitter: @ninadg

Arts Connect is a development agency that works to improve the quality of the arts and cultural engagement and opportunities with and for children and young people in the West Midlands.

ASCEL is the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians. ASCEL leads excellence in Library Services for Children, Young People and Schools.

Writing West Midlands is the creative writing development agency for the region, and is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Liz Gardner has worked in libraries for over 20 years, having previously been a teacher, and is currently a Library Development Officer for Staffordshire Libraries.

As well as supporting the development of the libraries in East Staffordshire, Liz also leads on Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction Award and Staffordshire Libraries’ Book Chat for the county and is Chair of East Staffordshire Families Improvement Board and a Trustee of West Midlands Readers’ Network.

Liz had no formal education until she was 16 so she is keen to raise awareness of support and opportunities for young people that empower them to build positive futures for themselves.

Mog, together with Pauline, are the proud owners of the award-winning Warwick Books, the town’s only independent bookshop. Mog is Warwick-born and bred and having trained and worked in Theatre Design spent some time working in Italy and France for a youth charity where she met Pauline.

Since taking over the shop in 2015, they have won numerous awards, established a popular events calendar attracting some well-respected literary names to the town and contributed to some important community events. They also enjoy supporting authors and librarians at all stages of their careers and have established some treasured relationships with them.

www.warwickbooks.net

Twitter: @HarrisMog

Natalie Marlow is an historical novelist with a fascination for the people and landscapes of the Midlands. Much of her writing takes inspiration from the stories her grandparents told. She holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Writing) from the University of East Anglia and is part-way through a PhD at Birkbeck, University of London. She lives in Warwickshire with her family. Needless Alley is her first novel, and is set in Birmingham in the 1930s.

Jenny McCann is the owner and founder of Bear Bookshop, an independent children’s bookshop in Bearwood in the Black Country. The Bear Bookshop aims to be a place that develops and encourages a child’s enjoyment of reading, love of learning and sense of wonder.

Before founding the Bear Bookshop, Jenny was an English teacher for 15 years. She is passionate about the impact of reading on education as well as children’s well-being and mental health.

bearbookshop.co.uk/

Instagram: @bearbookshop

Twitter: @bookshop_bear

Kurly McGeachie is the CEO at Memorhyme – a creative literacy consultancy and educational content producer for schools and organisations in both public and private sectors. In 2016, he co-founded Memorhyme with a view to pool talents and deploy values led education to help make meaningful changes. It then grew up to be a collective of teachers, poet laureates, campaigners, specialist educators, digital champions and artists, applying creative skills and solutions to support social change.

kurlyspoetry.com/

Instagram: @kurlyspoetry

Leena (Norms) Normington is a poet and YouTuber from the Midlands. Her channel has amassed over 11 million views where she uploads weekly video essays and imperfect thought experiments to promote living a shrewd and spirited life. She was named

‘BookTuber of the Year’ by London Book Fair and has collaborated with European Commission, Royal Historic Palaces, and the U.S. Embassy London among others.

From the politics of ice-cream to the permission slip you didn’t know you needed, Leena’s first poetry collection, Bargain Bin Rom-Com, released July 2022, is a tongue-in-cheek look at living on a planet that is filled with both doom and glitter.

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqfUHCeCSd0BqoxxrDv8g

Web: leenanorms.com

Twitter & Instagram: @leenanorms

Lyndsey has been a Senior Library Assistant at Shrewsbury for four years. Her background is in schools and teaching and she has a Master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations. Like many bookworms, Lyndsey was interested in a career in libraries because she is an avid reader. She quickly learnt that the job is as much about working with people as with books, and relishes the various aspects of the role.

Dave Payne is an LGBTQ+ writer, producer, director and lyricist from the West Midlands and was one of the winners of the ITV1 sketch show Shoot The Writers. He is a graduate of the Birmingham Rep Write Away scheme. As the core writer of the award winning Laughlines Comedy Entertainment, Dave wrote stage parody tributes to classic sitcoms including Blackadder, Only Fools and Horses, and The Vicar of Dibley before landing story lining roles with Hollyoaks online, Coronation Street, and EastEnders (winning Best Storyline at The British Soap Awards in 2015 and 2016).

Dave has also worked for TV, including writing for Sea View, CBBC comedy Class Dismissed, and as the Story Producer and Director on BBC Radio 4’s The Archers.

Twitter: @daveyjpayne

As Blake Friedmann’s Vice Head of the Book Department, Juliet Pickering is a Literary Agent and represents a list of writers across both fiction and nonfiction. Most of these authors write contemporary stories, often led by themes of identity, coming-of-age, and class. Alongside literary, book club and commercial fiction, she represents non-fiction writers including memoir, pop culture, social history, cookery and food. She regularly visits literary events and has been a judge for the Bristol Short Story Prize and Manchester Fiction Prize, and she is also on the board of the Working Class Writers’ Festival.

blakefriedmann.co.uk/juliet-pickering Twitter: @julietpickering

Jamie Russell is a screenwriter and author. He began his career as a film critic before writing a series of nonfiction books on cinema and videogames. Later he worked for a major US tech company as a speechwriter and narrative consultant, before becoming a filmmaker and children’s author.

His books include the SKYWAKE trilogy, an action-packed story of aliens and videogames, the best-selling BOOK OF THE DEAD: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF ZOMBIE CINEMA and GENERATION XBOX: HOW VIDEOGAMES INVADED HOLLYWOOD.

www.jamierussell.co.uk

Twitter: @JamieRussell_74

Andy came to the librarian profession late in his career and declares it to be his spiritual home. With skills from previous careers as a teacher and scientist feeding into his work, Andy now works in the library at The Hive, Worcester working with people of all ages and backgrounds. Andy has particular experience and interest in developing information technology whilst at The Hive.

Becky is a festival producer of Ledbury Poetry Festival as well as St David’s Cathedral Festival. Her thirty years of experience in publishing and communication includes leading and developing teams delivering communication strategies at live Festivals.

Becky’s career includes running The Women’s Prize for International Fiction for 6 years, founding the inaugural Get London Reading campaign with the London Mayor’s Office, Director of Publicity and Marketing at Bloomsbury Publishing for 6 years, including work with leading literary writers (Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Anne Michaels, Marilynne Robinson) and launch of Bloomsbury children’s list and J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

Twitter: @BeckyMSShaw

James Trevelyan is the acting director of The Emma Press. Trevelyan was formerly sales and marketing manager at independent press Penned in the Margins and recently left his position as a literature relationship manager at Arts Council England. As a writer, his debut poetry pamphlet DISSOLVE to: L.A. was published by the Emma Press in 2016.