Joseph Coelho is a British poet and children's book author who was elected Children's Laureate in 2022. He has dedicated his career to making poetry accessible to all, with a focus on children and young people.

Joseph Coelho
Coelho in a video for The British Library in 2020
Born	Roehampton
Alma mater	University College London
Known for	Children's Laureate
Website	www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com

Early life and education

Coelho grew up in a tower block in Roehampton, where he was the son of a single parent.[1][2] He became interested in poetry when Jean "Binta" Breeze visited his school whilst Coelho was in sixth form.[3] He studied theatre studies at A-Level.[2] He spent his childhood working in libraries, and got a job at the British Library as a teenager.[4] Coelho was an undergraduate student in archaeology at University College London.[4][5][6] During his undergraduate studies he directed plays at UCL, after which he took various jobs, including working at Camden Council.[2]

Career

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 poet. In 2014 Coelho published Werewolf Club Rules,[7] a poetry anthology which was awarded the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award.[8][9] His second independent collection, Overheard in a Tower Block, was shortlisted for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award in 2018.[8]

Coelho is a 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.[10] The resources included a series of videos explaining the different formats of poetry, how to perform poetry and how to interpret poetry.[10]

In 2022 Coelho was appointed the Children's Laureate.[4] He has said that poetry was often what people turned to in times of needed, “because we instinctively know, deep down in our core, that poetry transcends”.[4][11] He looks to improve diversity amongst the authors and illustrators on UK bookshelves.[3] As part of his tenure as Children's Laureate he will focus on various different projects, Poetry Prompts, Bookmaker Like You and the Library Marathon. He launched Poetry Prompts with the British Library, a set of writing activities to inspire people to write their own poetry.[12] Additionally, he started a programme called Bookmaker Like You, which celebrates the authors, illustrators and publishers who underpin book creation.[4] As part of the Library Marathon Coelho will visit a library in every local authority across the United Kingdom.[4][13]

Coelho has also written picture books, including:

• Luna Loves with illustrator Fiona Lumbers
• If All The World Were…[14] with illustrator Allison Colpoys (winner of the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award)[15]
• The Girl Who Became a Tree[16] (shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal)
• My Beautiful Voice[17]

References