Dan Dalton
Dan Dalton is a writer and journalist. Born and raised in Huddersfield, he now lives in Margate. Johnny Ruin is his first book.
Vanessa King
Vanessa King is a leading expert in positive psychology and the author of 10 Keys to Happier Living and, for children, 50 Ways to Feel Happy. She is a board member of Action for Happiness and a trustee of the Margate Bookie.
Louis de Bernières
Novelist Louis de Bernières was born in London in 1954 and spent some of his school years in Brichington. He joined the army at 18 but left after spending four months at Sandhurst. In 1993, Louis was selected as one of the 20 ‘Best of Young British Novelists 2’ promotion in Granta magazine. His fourth novel, Captin Corelli’s Mandolin, was published in the following year, winning the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best Book). It has become a worldwide bestseller and has now been translated into over 30 languages. A film adaptation of the novel was released in 2001,and the novel has recently been adapted for the stage.
Alison Weir
Alison Weir is the top-selling female historian in the United Kingdom, and has sold over 2.7 million books worldwide. She has published eighteen history books, including Elizabeth the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Lady in the Tower and Elizabeth of York, and seven historical novels.
Mark Billingham
Mark’s first novel, Sleepyhead, was an instant bestseller in the UK. The series of crime novels featuring London-based detective Tom Thorne continued with Scaredy Cat and was followed by a huge list of bestsellers including Lazybones, The Burning Girl and The Killing Habit. Mark is also the author of the standalone novels In The Dark, Rush Of Blood and Die Of Shame. An acclaimed television series based on the Thorne novels was screened on Sky One in Autumn 2010, starring David Morrissey as Tom Thorne. A series based on the novels In The Dark and Time Of Death was screened on BBC1 in 2017.
Inua Ellams
Born in Nigeria in 1984, Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist & designer. He is an ambassador for the Ministry of Stories and has published four books of poetry: ‘ Inua is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Elise Valmorbida
Elise Valmorbida is the author of several titles including NY Times best-seller The Madonna of the Mountains. She teaches creative writing at Central Saint Martins and Arvon, and fis ounder-director of communications consultancy word-design.
Adrian Cross
Adrian Cross lives in London and loves Margate. He works in an advisory role with children in care and writes for the Times Educational Supplement and does live music reviews for Gigwise. He co-edited the #1 Vanguard Readings Short Story Anthology and is a Margate Bookie trustee.
Aimee Lewis
Boozer, lover, fighter and desperately in need of a new bio.
Richard Skinner
Richard Skinner is a novelist and Director of the Fiction Programme at Faber Academy. In this workshop, Richard will be sharing novel-writing insight, tips, strategies and stimuli, drawing upon his bestselling writing guide Writing a Novel.