The Team - Chapter One Promotions

PAST AND PRESENT

Anna Robinson has been writing poetry for some time and in 2001 was the first recipient of the Poetry School Scholarship.   A former tutor in prisons, Anna is one of the regular poetry judges for the Koestler Competition. She has an MA from Ruskin College in Oxford in Public History and currently works part time for Lambeth as the borough's local history librarian. Her first publication, 'Songs from the Flats', is set on a housing estate in South London and explores themes of home and rebellion within an urban dream-time.  'Songs from the Flats' was selected by the Poetry Book Society as their Winter Quarter Pamphlet Choice 2005/6. 

Catherine Anholt trained as a Fine Artist at Falmouth School of Art. She went on to take a Master's Degree in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art. She started illustrating children's books in 1984 and has since produced more than 50 titles all written by her husband, Laurence. Catherine’s books include the Chimp and Zee series and numerous titles for Walker Books, Orchard and Frances Lincoln. She also produced much of the material for the Government funded Bookstart scheme.

Christina Foley has worked in manuscript preparation for many years transcribing rough, hand written drafts as well as cassette tapes into typed pieces.  Christina works very closer with her clients and will often go beyond the transcribing service and will use her extensive experiences to edit and correct work in progress.

Gerry Thompson is an Irish comedy writer, performer and trainer.  He is also the author of thirteen books, some serious and some funny, published in several hundred thousand copies in nine languages.  Gerry performs one man shows and runs the Maisonette of Mirth, a regular comedy cabaret show which happens in people’s living rooms in Sussex, as well as running comedy workshops.

Jacob Sam-La Rose is a poet, writer, playwright, performer and educator. A former Poet-in-Residence at BBC London, he is a touring writer with the British Council.  Jacob has performed at a broad range of literature and arts festivals, including an appearance at the 2005 Gwendolyn Brooks Writers' Conference in Chicago. Jacob's work has been featured in Velocity: The Best of Apples & Snakes, Sable Litmag and X Magazine, to name but a few.

Jane Beeson began writing in the late '70s and gained an Arts Council Award for her first novel and has since had four novels published by Pan and Heinemann.  A Winter Harvest, a three part TV drama documentary, was featured on BBC2 and followed by a novel of the same name. Jane has written for stage and also for BBC radio drama. She has had two collections of poetry published and poems in Ted Hughes and John Silkin's Arts Council anthologies along with her poetry read on both Radio 3 and 4.

Johanna Bertie has enjoyed an extensive career in the film, theatre and video production industry.  Her experiences have included work as a Production Manager and Director as well as writing for both film and video.  Johanna has written columns for magazines and journals alongside running a writer’s newsletter.  Her training as a script reader has enabled her to build a solid background in story evaluation and critiquing.  Johanna has co-ordinated and run film nights and screenings at local and West End venues. 

Kelly McKain is an author of children and teen books.  As a copywriter, Kelly has produced a wide range of children’s material and taught creative writing, history and drama in primary schools and youth clubs.  She is the author of the successful Mermaid Rock series for young readers and the pre-teen Totally Lucy collection.  Kelly’s other titles include Pony Camp Diaries, The Fairy House and The Goddess Society.

Laurence Anholt has created more than 90 bestselling children’s books, translated into dozens of languages around the world. The titles range from the poignant Anholt’s Artists series, about great artists and real children, to the completely barmy Seriously Silly Stories and the many magical tales of those irrepressible twins Chimp and Zee.

Linda Lee Welch has worked as a musician, community artist and teacher. She is currently a Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, and also runs Creative Writing groups in the Sheffield Community and does poetry and music residencies in schools. Linda Lee has also won prizes in the Bridport, York and Jersey poetry competitions. She won a commission to write a piece for the 2001 Off the Shelf Literary Festival, a piece that contained poetry, script and songs.

Lorella Belli has worked in the publishing industry for 12 years and set up her own agency in London's Notting Hill in 2002.  She studied literature and languages at the University of Venice and frequently gives talks to creative writing courses, to writers’ groups and is a speaker at literary festivals.

Pamela Jones works on business and technical documents and delivers training materials to help employees within organisations approach the writing process with confidence.  Pamela also works with professional and novice writers on autobiographical and fictionalised autobiographies as well as stories and poetry.  She is a prolific writer of short stories and poems as well as an artist and performs her poetry at various venues.

Prince Baden Jnr is a London-based writer, poet and performer.  His credits include appearances at Express Excess, Pure Poetry and Shortfuse with
performances for Apples & Snakes.  Baden promotes and hosts ‘Speakeasy’, a popular monthly poetry/spoken word event in north London. He is currently Writer in Residence with the London Borough of Havering’s Library Service. His first collection of poems entitled, ‘The Shadow Dancer’, was published by the tall-lighthouse.

Preetha Leela has twelve years experience as a copywriter and freelance writer and five years experience as a literary consultant and manuscript appraiser.  Preetha teaches part time at the London Metropolitan University and is currently working on her own writing projects.

Victoria Sponge has been an illustrator for three years and has many years experience as a graphic design.  Victoria designs greeting cards, children’s picture book covers and book illustrations.