Announcing A THOUSAND STORIES!

It’s HERE! Tickets are now on sale for Megaphone’s first ever IN PERSON writing conference: A THOUSAND STORIES. This is an opportunity for people of colour with an interest in writing for children or teenagers to come together, hear from professionals and connect with other writers. Attendee tickets are limited to 35 in this first year and are selling fast. Check the website for full details and the programme: https://megaphonewrite.com/a-thousand-stories/

The conference is in central Birmingham on Saturday July 11th and thanks to sponsorship from ALCS and support from volunteers, the tickets are just £10. This includes lunch and refreshments. To make it fully accessible, we can also offer a pay-as-you-can option, contact us if this is relevant to you.

  • Serena Patel on going from unpublished to a bestseller in children’s literature
  • Megaphone debuts Abena Eyeson and Mayo Agard-Olubo on their experience of publishing, Kereen Getten and GM Linton on creating writing for contemporary children that’s inspired by childhood and heritage
  • Literary agents Safae El-Ouahabi (RCW Literary Agency) and Louise Lamont (LBA Literary Agency) on going beyond the first draft to editing, polishing and selling your book.
  • WRITING COMPETITION: Stephanie and Leila are offering editorial feedback to ticket-holders who send in up to 2,000 words of their writing for children by May 31st. There will be a prize for our favourite piece of writing, which we will award on the day.

BUY TICKETS: The webpage is now live on the website, where you can see all the information and programme: https://megaphonewrite.com/a-thousand-stories/ You can click through from there to the Ticket Tailor site to buy tickets.

THANK YOU! Special thanks to the Birmingham-based volunteers who’ve helped so far – Michelle Wales, Ayesha Khan, Charlotte Bailey – and to Reyhana Ismail who has designed the wonderful logo, and of course to ALCS whose funding has made this possible and to Stephanie King!

ALCS logo - four letters stacked in a square formation, black on white.

ALCS is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal for writers. It represents over 130,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £750 million to writers.

Review: The Golden Monkey Mystery by Piu Das Gupta

Book cover of 'The Golden Monkey Mystery' by Piu Dasgupta featuring vibrant illustrations of a monkey, flowers, and playful characters against a black background.
The Golden Monkey Mystery by Piu Das Gupta
Book cover for 'Secrets of the Snakestone' by Piu Dasgupta, featuring an illustrated snake entwined with various colorful designs and figures on an orange background.
Secrets of the Snakestone by Piu Das Gupta

“We can’t let the rarest monkey in India become a pet or a performing animal. It needs to be returned to the forest, where it belongs. Come on, cholo!”

A thrilling adventure following three children through the Indian jungle in the 1800s. Roma Moreau can’t stand her boarding school, the prissy Miss Oliphant’s, and wants to be a doctor, but her father won’t allow it. Then she discovers a rare golden leaf-eating monkey – and it has in its paws a mysterious treasure, the Snake Stone. The monkey is stolen by bandits, and Roma sets off to rescue it and return it to its secret home in the jungle. Along the way, the cursed Snake Stone brings her new friends and enemies. The characters draw on real historical figures from the period, as well as members of the author’s own family, as a fascinating author’s note makes clear. A really special feature of the book is the ambigram illustrations – riddling pictures that can be read one way, then turned upside down to read another way. This book is a companion to Secrets of the Snakestone, which was a Times Children’s Book of the Week and shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize.

The Golden Monkey Mystery is a Middle grade historical-fantasy adventure published by Nosy Crow in January 2026. It’s 232 pages long (proof copy) and aimed at children aged 9-12.

Buy at Bookshop.org
Publisher’s Website with more about the book

Reviewed by Leila Rasheed

The Night I Borrowed Time is out now!

We’re very excited that today is the official release day for THE NIGHT I BORROWED TIME, the first children’s book from our former mentee, Iqbal Hussain. Iqbal’s voice is so warm and funny and this book is absolutely magical – a time travelling, family-centred adventure that takes a young Pakistani-British boy back to the past to find out about the historical forces that formed his family. It’s incredible to see stories of Partition finally making it to British children’s bookshelves, and with Iqbal’s talent for storytelling, I know this is going to be an unforgettable adventure that captures so many children’s imaginations.

Buy it at Waterstones


Buy at bookshop.org
Publisher website
Iqbal’s website
The Night I Borrowed Time

“A funny, heartbreaking and uplifting tale about family, bravery and living in the here and now, perfect for fans of Time Travelling With a Hamster and Wonder” – published by Penguin Books.

Review: Dream Hunters by Nazima Pathan

Cover of the book 'Dream Hunters' by Nazima Pathan, featuring two children named Mimi and Rafi, who are dream hunters. They are depicted holding dream-catching bottles against a vibrant, magical background.
Dream Hunters by Nazima Pathan
A close-up portrait of an author with curly hair, wearing a dark top, smiling softly at the camera, set against a blurred background of wooden fencing and greenery.
Nazima Pathan (Mentee 2021)

I’d recommend this book! 12-yr old Mimi and best friend Rafi are Dream Hunters, using their skills to catch bad dreams alongside their dream creatures. But, after stumbling on a plot to poison the king, they must leave the safe confines of their citadel and help the king before it’s too late.

Nazima has written a unique page turner (in first person present form) and Federica Frenna’s illustrations enhance this thrilling Indian fantasy adventure. There’s a political element, highlighting those that will go to any lengths to satiate their need for power and wealth.

Dream Hunters is a Middle grade fantasy adventure published by Simon & Schuster in 2024. It’s 278 pages and aimed at children aged 9-12.

Buy at Bookshop.org
Publisher’s Website with more about the book
Seema McArdle

Reviewer: Seema McArdle

Seema McArdle is a working-class writer born into a Newcastle-based Punjabi family. She is a winner of the National Centre for Writing 23/24 Escalator programme, where she worked on her debut children’s novel, mentored by Ashley Hickson-Lovence. Seema’s work has won the Publisher’s Prize at FABPrize 2020 and was shortlisted for the Penguin Random House WriteNow 2021 programme. She holds a BA (hons) in History & Sociology, a PGCE in Primary Education, and a CELTA, and has previously worked for The Independent, the Serious Fraud Office, the NHS, Norwich University of the Arts and as an educator. Seema is interested in the fascinating histories of British People of Colour, many of whom remain excluded from our history and story books. She works at the University of East Anglia, where she is a member of the Race Equality Steering Committee and helped launch South Asian Heritage Month. Seema is an active supporter of Show Racism the Red Card charity, and she is a contributor of the John Blanke Project.

Review: Running My Own Race by Abena Eyeson

Cover of Running My Own Race
A close-up portrait of a woman wearing glasses and a black turtleneck sweater, with long braided hair, set against a plain white background.
Abena Eyeson

RUNNING MY OWN RACE follows the story of  Kofi, an 11-year-old boy whose world shifts when he receives a scholarship to a local private school. Kofi has always dreamt of being a professional running athlete, and with this opportunity, his dream is now a little step closer. But the path forward is far from easy, as Kofi finds himself torn between pursuing his athletic dreams and fulfilling his mother’s desire for him to achieve academic success and “become somebody.”  As he struggles to balance his passion with his family’s expectations. Kofi faces more obstacles, trying and struggling to fit in his new environment, representing his local community and all the while trying to maintain old friendships, especially with his best friend Charlie. With positive guidance from the school coach, Kofi excels on the track, to the disgust of his classmate Miles, who begins a relentless campaign of bullying with taunts of racial and social class epithets, which ultimately culminates in an altercation that threatens to derail Kofi’s dream. Abena Eyeson takes the reader on an engaging tale of resilience, self-advocacy and learning to follow your own path: “running your own race”. Culminating in restorative justice and a positive resolution, this book is an ideal choice for readers 9-12 years old as it thoughtfully explores complex contemporary issues, all the while celebrating the joy of running.

Buy at Bookshop.org
Abena Eyeson’s Website
A close-up black and white selfie of a person wearing glasses and a cap, with a neutral expression, captured indoors with visible window light.

Reviewer: Julian Beresford

Julian Beresford is a freelance illustrator and writer based in South Yorkshire, England. He grew up in the southwest of London, where he spent most of his childhood lost in his imagination, drawing constantly and taking inspiration from and developing a love of British comics such as the Beano, Dandy, 2000 AD and any of the worlds mythological stories he could get his hands on. He has studied animation and game art at university and has many creative interests which he combines with his love of the fantastical and mythological, to explore and create his written and illustrated work. In 2018 Julian was commended at Faber Faber Fab Prize award for his illustrative work.
Julian is a Megaphone Community member.

Julian’s Website

Review: Runaways by E. L. Norry

What does home mean to you? In her introduction to this proof copy, E. L. Norry invites us to consider this question. For the boy and girl in RUNAWAYS, home isn’t safe or comforting. The adults in their lives are flawed and make mistakes that put them in enough danger to run away from home. Their journeys flow in and out of one another. As they run in the same direction, July and Jamie, who have never known each other before and have on the face of it nothing in common, encounter each other and become friends – or more accurately, something stronger than friends, companions in survival who can rely on each other to give them the safety the adults in their lives can’t. It all ends happily, which makes it a great story for children aged about 9 to 11 who are interested in contemporary issues but also need comfort in their stories. It’s out on July 3rd and is highly recommended by this reader! Buy here or here or your bookseller of choice.




Join Megaphone Band group!

We started the Megaphone Band group back in 2020, to provide free discussion forum, workshops and more for people of colour who are interested in writing for children/teenagers. There are over 100 members, both published and not-yet-published, and we’d love to grow the community even more to create a real critical mass of people of colour supporting each other to thrive as writers of children’s/YA literature. We believe this space is just as necessary today as it has always been. Perhaps you could be part of it? Get in touch if you’d like to join!

Join Megaphone on Band! People of colour writing for children can join our free, private, moderated forum on www.band.us. - Writing and publishing chat and advice - Support and encouragement - Find a critique group or beta reader - Book club - Contact us to join on megaphone.write@gmail.com

Year end message – 2024

We’re coming towards the end of 2024 and Megaphone is going into a quiet period over Christmas and New Year. In 2023 – 2024, thanks to funding from ALCS and Arts Council England (National Lottery Project Grants) we’ve delivered the following

– 36 events for our Megaphone writing community:

  • 12 career and craft workshops and panels led by children’s authors of colour
  • 12 Book Clubs led by highly experienced children’s editor Stephanie King
  • 12 Open Door Q&As with editors, agents, publishing professionals also hosted by Stephanie King

(Remember, if you’re a member of Megaphone Community, recordings are available to watch on the Band forum).

– Meet the Mentee: a networking event for our mentees to meet editors and agents, at the CLPE Literacy Library, in collaboration with All Stories mentoring.

  • Dream Hunters by Nazima Pathan
  • Shivanthi meets her mentor, Michael Mann
  • The 2023- 2024 mentees and Leila Rasheed

– 8 mentees writing fantastic books for all ages with mentoring from published authors

– 6 tailored workshops for the mentees: covering key skills for children’s writers, including Building an author brand and What to expect: life after the mentorship

We’re also delighted at the success of former mentees this year – Nazima Pathan’s stunning DREAM HUNTERS was published, with a sequel due next year, Iqbal Hussain has continued to do brilliantly in adult writing with some children’s books news in the pipeline, Munira Jannath was recognised in the Fab prize, Joyce Efia Harmer’s critically acclaimed HOW FAR WE’VE COME came out in paperback in March, Danielle Jawando goes from strength to strength with IF MY WORDS HAD WINGS out in May 2024 – hope I’ve not forgotten anyone!

I’d especially like to thank Stephanie King and Avantika Taneja for their fantastic work supporting our writers – and also, warmly thank everyone who has given their time to help emerging children’s and YA authors of colour, especially our mentors, our workshop leaders, and the editors and agents who were on our judging panel and those who gave their time to Open Door. You are all wonderful!


2024 was notable for the Reflecting Realities report, which showed we still seem stuck in cycles of boom and bust when it comes to representing children in their literature. We have to move past this, to a more sustainable, consistent, sensible approach. When Megaphone first started, fewer than 2% of children’s authors were British people of colour. Only 1% of the children’s books published in the UK in 2017 had a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic main character. Yet this work – getting children’s literature to do better for the children it’s meant for – had already been going on for decades. In 2025, we will be looking at how Megaphone should be in the future, but also at how we can learn from the past so we don’t keep repeating our work.

In the meantime, we hope you get the chance for some rest and recuperation – or energising fun! – over the winter break. See you in 2025!

– Leila Rasheed

Reflecting Realities? not this year…

The percentage of books for under 11s that feature racially minoritised characters dropped in 2023. Centre for Literacy in Primary Education began measuring the number (and quality) of representations of racially minoritised characters in UK books published for under 11 year olds, in 2017. In 2017 a mere 4% of books featured ANY racially minoritised characters. This rose to a high of 30% in 2022… but in 2023, dropped to 17%. Read the full report.

The percentage of children’s books featuring a main character from a racially minoritised background halved from 14% of books published in 2022 to 7% of books published in 2023. Reaction from writers of colour is disappointment, but not surprise. The lack of representation has been so extreme for so long, that everyone worried improvement was ‘just a trend’. But children’s lives in the UK are increasingly global and diverse. Children’s literature has a responsibility to reflect that.

“Through every annual review of the last seven years we have had the privilege of being treated to stories, characters, writing and worlds that have elevated the literary landscape, enriched the culture and transformed reading experiences….We encourage the industry to take the lessons learned and remain steadfast in their commitment to reflecting realities and serving their readership” – Farrah Serroukh, Executive Director of Research and Development, CLPE

Let’s end with a positive: a photograph of the future. Here are the mentees (plus Leila in the floral top) who began the Megaphone mentoring scheme in 2023. Each one is a talented writer, a unique voice. Here’s the proof that there’s no shortage of writers telling great stories that honour the diversity of the world today. These are the writers that the UK publishing industry should be championing and nurturing if they truly want to reflect reality in the books they publish.

Former mentee succeeds in FAB prize!

Munira Jannath, 2021 mentee

Munira Jannath, who was a Megaphone mentee in 2020 – 2021, has won the Publishers’ Text category of the FAB prize 2024. Congratulations Munira! Follow the link to her blog about the story that got her a place on the Megaphone scheme. We loved her warm, funny, child-centred writing even then and it’s so exciting to see her getting more recognition for it!
2021 mentees: Munira Jannath