Daren King

Laurence Daren King (born 1972 in Harlow, Essex) is an English novelist and children's writer. His debut novel, Boxy an Star, made the shortlist for the Guardian First Book Award and the ten finalists for the Booker Prize in 1999. He won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize gold medal in the 6 to 8-year-old readers category for Mouse Noses on Toast in 2006.

Biography Daren King was born in Harlow, Essex in 1972. He left school with one O-level, but later graduated from a creative writing course at Bath Spa University College.

Works Whilst studying in Bath, King wrote his first novel, Boxy an Star, which was then published by Abacus in 1999. The book was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and longlisted for the Booker Prize. The same year he contributed to a book of erotica published by Zadie Smith when she was writer in residence at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Adult cartoon Smally the Mouse: Smally's Party (Bloomsbury, 2005)

Other Contributor to All Hail the New Puritans, an anthology of stories edited by Nicholas Blincoe and Matt Thorne (Fourth Estate, 2000)