Joanna Nadin

Joanna Nadin has written more than 40 books for children and young people, including the Rachel Riley series for teens (Oxford University Press), the Penny Dreadful series for younger readers (Usborne) and the acclaimed Wonderland, Undertow and Eden (all published by Walker). Her young adult novels focus on issues of identity, from Gatsbyesque self-transformation to multiple personality disorder. This work is being explored and expanded for her doctoral thesis on multiplicity as a non-psychopathological state of mind.

She is a recipient of the Lancashire Schools Fantastic Book Award, the Surrey Book Award and the Highland Book Award; Penny Dreadful Is a Magnet for Disaster was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl funny prize; the Rachel Riley series has thrice been shortlisted for the Queen of Teen award; and Spies, Dad, Big Lauren and Me was a Richard and Judy book club choice. She has both appeared and chaired events at literary festivals including Cheltenham, Hay and Edinburgh, and works as a manuscript tutor for students on the MA in creative writing for young people at Bath Spa University. She is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the largest ever literacy lesson.

Before writing full-time, Joanna worked as a broadcast journalist, a campaigns writer for the Labour party, and a special adviser to the prime minister during the Blair government, specialising in turning policy documents into plain English. She continues to freelance as a speechwriter, and her ghost-writing for cabinet ministers and chief executives has appeared in national and specialised publications from the BMJ to the Guardian.