ictGateshead

Nick Toczek (6 sessions)

Best-selling author, Nick Toczek, is a full-time professional writer and performer who currently works variously as a poet, magician, storyteller, puppeteer, novelist, stand-up comic, radio DJ, political researcher, creative writing tutor, journalist, librettist, advertising copy-writer, and political speech-writer. He's published over thirty books and has made about 35,000 public appearances. His poetry books alone have sold well over quarter of a million copies.

As a writer in schools, he's worked with pupils from around 4,500 schools. He also performs at festivals and family events, in libraries and prisons, on radio and TV, in colleges and residential homes, in pubs, clubs and community centres.

More about Nick on the NCBF website

Paul Cookson (2 sessions)

Paul Cookson was born in 1961 and brought up just outside Preston, in Lancashire. Early ambitions were to play football for Everton or electric guitar in Slade, although, after all the usual exams, he actually qualified as a teacher and taught full-time for five years.

He published his first selection of poems in 1980, and has now published over fifteen solo collections for both adults and children for A Twist In The Tale publishers. A Twist In The Tale has also been responsible for publishing work by Henry Normal, Ian McMillan, David Harmer and Martyn Wiley.

Since 1989 he has worked as poet, performing in thousands of venues throughout the country and is constantly in demand for his school visits.

Widely anthologised, Paul's poems can be found in numerous collections. He has sold well over half a million books and has recently emerged as a leading editor of anthologies for children, with an extremely successful number of titles for Macmillan Children's Books, Red Fox / Random House, Scholastic, Hodder Wayland and Lion Books.

More about Paul on the NCBF website

Gez Walsh (2 sessions)

Gez Walsh burst onto the poetry scene in 1997 armed with his first collection of children's verse, The Spot on My Bum: Horrible Poems for Horrible Children, which was rapidly to become a cult classic. Written in response to his dyslexic son's need for stimulating, approachable reading material, Gez decided to use humour as his tool to encourage interest. Quickly realising he'd hit on a successful method of providing reluctant readers with enthusiasm, Gez's world of laughter sprang into life. Soon it was not only his son enjoying hilarious performances of these poems but a much wider audience of enthusiasts at schools, festivals, book signings and charity events.

More about Gez on the Potty Poets website

Craig Bradley (2 sessions)

"Craig is a brilliant wordsmith and performer and the children and parents thoroughly enjoyed his show. It was vibrant, energetic, great fun and totally engaging. All the children felt involved in the performance. One mother e-mailed the festival after the event to say that the show had been a revelation and, for the first time, her son had picked up a book and was reciting Craig's poetry."
Lesley Webster
Off The Shelf Festival of Writing and Reading
Sheffield

Craig Bradley is a professional poet, writer and performer who tours the country sharing his passion and infectious enthusiasm for words. He performs in schools, libraries, museums, art galleries, hospitals and literary festivals.

He has a BA (Hons) in English Language and a MA in Contemporary Literature. He has lectured in Creative Writing at the Universities of Huddersfield and Leeds.

He has held many writing residencies in libraries, schools, prisons, youth offending teams, hospitals and literary festivals. In 2003 he was Calderdale Libraries first ever Reader In Residence. He has read his work on radio and TV.

More about Craig on his website

We are looking at programming further poetry festivals during 2009.