Joseph Coelho

Joseph Aaron Coelho 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. 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 Coelho grew up in a tower block in Roehampton, England, the son of a single parent. He became interested in poetry when Jean "Binta" Breeze visited his school whilst Coelho was in sixth form. He took A-Levels in Theatre Studies, English, Chemistry, History and an A/S in Archaeology. During his university days, he directed plays at UCL, after which he took various jobs, including working at Camden Council.

Career

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 Children's 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 sessions through Performance Poetry Organisation Apples and Snakes, The Poetry Society, and 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, a poetry anthology which was awarded the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award. Coelho's second independent collection, Overheard in a Tower Block, was shortlisted for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award in 2018. The resources included a series of videos explaining the different formats of poetry, how to perform poetry and how to interpret poetry. He looks to improve diversity amongst the authors and illustrators on UK bookshelves. Additionally, he started a programme called Bookmaker Like You, celebrating the authors, illustrators and publishers who underpin book creation. He was succeeded as Children's Laureate in July 2024 by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

His YA verse novel The Boy Lost in the Maze, which uses the legend of the Minotaur in a tale of a teenager searching for his biological father, was the winner of the 2024 Carnegie Medal for Writing and has received international acclaim, appearing on the White Raven Book list - Munich, The IBBY UK Honour Books List and was awarded The Extraordinary Book of 2023 by The International Children's Literature Festival of Berlin.

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.

Coelho was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Roehampton in 2025. This recognition celebrates his significant contributions to literature and the arts.

Publications

Picture books 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…, with illustrator Allison Colpoys (winner of the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award 2019) My Beautiful Voice, with illustrator Allison Colpoys (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

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

"Hope Hunter", in The Book of Hopes, ed. Katherine Rundell "Amelia St-Claire and the Long Armed Killer", in Happy Here, introduced by Sharna Jackson “Underlay Underlings”, in Read Scream Repeat, curated by Jennifer Killick

Poetry

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

The Girl Who Became a Tree Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Special Mention for the 2021 Bologna Ragazzi Poetry Award The Boy Lost in the Maze, Illustrated by Kate Milner Winner of the Carnegie Medal in 2024