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Joseph Coelho

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Joseph Coelho
OBE FRSL
Coelho in Waterstones, Piccadilly, 2022
Born
Joseph Aaron Coelho

Roehampton, England
Alma materUniversity College London
Known forChildren's Laureate 2022–2024
Notable workThe Boy Lost in the Maze
PartnerManjeet Mann
AwardsCarnegie Medal, 2024
Websitethepoetryofjosephcoelho.com

Joseph Aaron Coelho OBE FRSL is a British poet and children's book author who was Children's Laureate from 2022 to 2024. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[1] In 2024, he was announced the winner of the Carnegie Medal for his YA novel The Boy Lost in the Maze.

Personal life and education

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Coelho grew up in a tower block in Roehampton, England, the son of a single parent.[2][3] He became interested in poetry when Jean "Binta" Breeze visited his school whilst Coelho was in sixth form.[4] He took A-Levels in Theatre Studies, English, Chemistry, History and an A/S in Archaeology.[3] Coelho was an undergraduate student in archaeology at University College London (UCL).[5][6][7] During his university days, he directed plays at UCL, after which he took various jobs, including working at Camden Council.[3]

Coehlo lives in Folkestone with his partner Manjeet Mann.[8]

Career

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Coelho in 2020

Coelho started performing poetry with performance poetry organisation Apples and Snakes in 2002, performing on the London Poetry Scene. Coelho has a long history in theatre both on stage and behind the scenes, which began as a youth at Group 64 in Putney. After university, Coelho worked with many companies behind the scenes, including the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, the Unicorn Theatre, Half Moon Theatre, Talawa Theatre Company, Oily Cart, and Theatre Centre.

Coelho is also a playwright and has written plays for the following companies:

  • Wordpepper Theatre / Half Moon Theatre: Pop-Up Flashback and The PoetryJoe Show
  • Polka Theatre: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, co-written with Jonathon Lloyd
  • Half Moon Theatre: Fairytales Gone Bad: Grannylocks / The Monstrous Duckling
  • Half Moon Theatre: Fairytales Gone Bad: Zombie-rella / Blood Red Hood
  • Unicorn Theatre: Bye Bye Planet Earth
  • Islington Community Theatre: Chicken Shop
  • The Spark Childrens Festival: Tree Child
  • Pied Piper Theatre Company: Robin's Winter Adventure, co-written with Tina Williams
  • The Little Angel Theatre: The Wishing Tree
  • Tutti Frutti Productions: Jack Frost and The Search for Winter

Before being published, Coelho worked extensively in schools engaging young people with literacy through the medium of poetry, running session through Performance Poetry Organisation Apples and Snakes, The Poetry Society, Creative Partnerships. Coelho often runs CPD sessions with teachers sharing ways to engage young people with poetry.

At the London Book Fair in 2012, Coelho met Janetta Otter-Barry, the founder of Otter-Barry books. This interaction launched Coelho's career as an author and published poet. In 2014 Coelho published Werewolf Club Rules,[9] a poetry anthology which was awarded the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award.[10][11] Coelho's second independent collection, Overheard in a Tower Block, was shortlisted for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award in 2018.[10]

Coelho has written more than 20 books for young people, spanning picture books, middle-grade and YA. His debut picture book Luna Loves Library Day, with Fiona Lumbers, was nominated for the 2018 Kate Greenaway Medal and chosen as one of the nation's top 25 stories to share by World Book Day UK.

Coelho's debut YA verse novel, The Girl Who Became a Tree was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and received a Special Mention for the 2021 Bologna Ragazzi Poetry Award.

Coelho is a children's author and poet who is committed to making the reading and writing of poetry accessible to all. As part of these efforts, in 2018 he created resources for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 students on understanding poetry.[12] The resources included a series of videos explaining the different formats of poetry, how to perform poetry and how to interpret poetry.[12]

In 2022, Coelho was appointed the Children's Laureate.[5] He has said that poetry was often what people turned to in times of need, “because we instinctively know, deep down in our core, that poetry transcends”.[5][13] He looks to improve diversity amongst the authors and illustrators on UK bookshelves.[4] As part of his tenure as Children's Laureate, he focused on various different projects, Poetry Prompts, Bookmaker Like You and the Library Marathon. He launched Poetry Prompts, a set of online writing activities to inspire people to write their own poetry.[14] Additionally, he started a programme called Bookmaker Like You, celebrating the authors, illustrators and publishers who underpin book creation.[5] As part of the Library Marathon, Coelho visited a library in every local authority across the United Kingdom.[5][15] He was succeeded as Children's Laureate in July 2024 by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.[16]

Coelho was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to the Arts, to Children's Reading and to Literature.[17]

Publications

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Picture books

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  • Luna Loves Library Day, with illustrator Fiona Lumbers (nominated for the 2018 Greenaway Medal)
  • Luna Loves Art, with illustrator Fiona Lumbers
  • Luna Loves Dance, with illustrator Fiona Lumbers
  • Luna Loves World Book Day, with illustrator Fiona Lumbers
  • The Hairdo That Got Away, with illustrator Fiona Lumbers
  • If All The World Were…,[18] with illustrator Allison Colpoys (winner of the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award 2019)[19]
  • My Beautiful Voice, with illustrator Allison Colpoys[20] (winner of the Indie Book Awards 2022)
  • No Longer Alone, with illustrator Robyn Wilson-Owen
  • Our Tower, with illustrator Richard Johnson
  • Thank You, with illustrator Sam Usher

Middle-Grade

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  • Fairy Tales Gone Bad - Zombierella, illustrated by Freya Hartas
  • Fairy Tales Gone Bad - Frankenstiltskin, illustrated by Freya Hartas
  • Fairy Tales Gone Bad - Creeping Beauty, illustrated by Freya Hartas
  • Run, Friend , Run! Illustrated by Davide Ortu

Short-Stories

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Poetry

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  • Werewolf Club Rules, illustrated by John O'Leary
    • winner of the CLPE CLIPPA Poetry Award 2015
  • Overheard in a Tower Block, illustrated by Kate Milner
    • Long-listed for the 2018 Carnegie Medal
    • Shortlisted for the CLPE Poetry Award 2018
    • Long-listed for the 2019 UKLA Book Awards
  • A Year of Nature Poems, Illustrated by Kelly Louise Judd
  • Poems Aloud, illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett
  • Smile Out Loud, illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett
  • Blow a Kiss Catch a Kiss, illustrated by Nicola Killen
  • How to Write Poems, illustrated by Matt Robertson

Young Adult

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References

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  1. ^ Creamer, Ella (12 July 2023). "Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Hennessy, Claire. "Joseph Coelho: library lover and poetry populariser". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "ALCS | MY WRITING LIVING: JOSEPH COELHO". www.alcs.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b Clarke, Naomi (4 July 2022). "Joseph Coelho on hoping to 'diversify bookshelves' as 12th Children's Laureate". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Shaffi, Sarah (4 July 2022). "Joseph Coelho chosen as Britain's new children's laureate". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  6. ^ Dex, Robert (4 July 2022). "New Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho wants to make a country of poets". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Poetry Joe: The world is getting smaller, art is more necessary than ever". Words & Pictures. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  8. ^ Hacking, Charlotte (November 2021). "An Interview with Costa Book Award winner author Manjeet Mann". Books For Keeps. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Werewolf Club Rules". CLPE. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Joseph Coelho | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education". clpe.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  11. ^ Honnor, Jessica (16 July 2015). "Performance poet Joseph Coelho wins children's poetry award". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  12. ^ a b "English KS1 / KS2: Joseph Coelho - Understanding Poetry". BBC Class Clips Video. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  13. ^ Singh, Anita (4 July 2022). "Pupils should write poetry rather than read it, says new children's laureate Joseph Coelho". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  14. ^ "'Poetry Prompts by Joseph Coelho'". Discovering Children's Books, British Library. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Joseph Coelho named children's laureate and vows to reinvent poetry's image". BBC News. 4 July 2022. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  16. ^ Creamer, Ella (2 July 2024). "Frank Cottrell-Boyce chosen as new children's laureate". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  17. ^ "No. 64423". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2024. p. B11.
  18. ^ "If All the World Were". www.booktrust.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Pat Barker, Joseph Coelho and Allison Colpoys, and Catherine Doyle win the Independent Bookshop Week". The Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom & Ireland Limited. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  20. ^ Wade, Prudence (4 August 2021). "5 new books to read this week". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  21. ^ Knight, Lucy. "'Extraordinary' Joseph Coelho novel wins Carnegie medal for children's writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
Cultural offices
Preceded by Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom
2022–2024 		Succeeded by
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