Geoff Barker

Geoff Barker is a writer and editor. For many years Geoff specialised in creating part-work series on varied non-fiction subjects such as cooking, wildlife, health, football and music. He was editor of The 1963 Civil Rights March (written by Scott Ingram and published by Gareth Stevens in the Landmark Events of American History series), which was honoured by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 2005 with the award for outstanding literary work for children.

Having spent much of his working life as an editor, Geoff tends to concentrate more on writing these days. He has written a wide range of non-fiction titles for children including Hunger (Evans, 2009), Football Star and Mexico: a world of food (both Franklin Watts, 2010), Entrepreneurs (Franklin Watts, 2011), What Is a Folktale? and What Is a Myth? (both Britannica, 2014) and The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China (Wayland, 2014). Geoff has contributed over 100 articles to the American series Masterpiece on popular paintings, including many of Van Gogh’s most famous works. He has also produced over 20 travel books in the Unforgettable Journeys series.

Geoff now lives in Fife, Scotland, where he spends much of his time enjoying his young family and favourite activities, including cycling and walking. He also helps students and charities with their writing and publications. Geoff loves to create outlandish stories for his children, and his current project is a series of children’s story-books. He is also writing titles on true crimes and football.

Geoff Barker has written about 50 published non-fiction books, but he also loves to create children’s stories. He lives in the East Neuk of Fife and has delivered Bridge workshops to local schools since January 2016, although he also travels as far as Arbroath and Blairgowrie. Geoff’s varied workshops focus on key aspects of academic writing: different styles for different audiences, clarity, critical thinking and editing. His interactive, imaginative activities and informal style mean that these sessions really engage his pupils. He helps them develop the necessary skills to deal with future college and university assignments, so they can feel much more confident about their writing.