Joshua Seigal

Joshua Seigal is an English children's poet, author, stand-up comedian, and educator.

Early life and education

Joshua Seigal grew up in London, during which time he regularly performed at the Poetry Café in Covent Garden. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing and Education from Goldsmiths, University of London, where he studied under Michael Rosen. Prior to becoming a full-time writer and performer, Seigal spent time as a teaching assistant.

Career Seigal has published many collections of poetry for children, with publishers including Bloomsbury and HarperCollins, and has performed and led workshops at schools and festivals around the world. Seigal has won several awards, including the Laugh Out Loud Book Award and the People's Book Prize. He has written and performed for BBC Television and has appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on numerous occasions.

Seigal's poem "I Don’t Like Poetry" (first published in his book of the same name) is featured on the website of the Poetry Foundation and is widely anthologised.

He is also a stand-up comedian, and writes and performs poetry for adults. Examples of this work have been published in magazines such as Poetry Wales.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Seigal gave away many of his books online, stating: “This is an incredibly difficult, scary time. However, my job is based on sharing joy, and I am determined that I will keep doing this, in whatever form it takes.” Seigal maintains a website, where he continues to share much of his material.

Seigal is a mental health advocate and has suffered from anxiety.

Awards Poetry Wales Award (2026) – Highly Commended UKLA Book Award (2025) – Longlisted Reading Rocks Book Award (2024) – Winner Laugh Out Loud Book Award (2023) – Winner Caterpillar Poetry Prize (2023) – Runner-Up The People's Book Prize (2022) – Winner Laugh Out Loud Book Award (2020) – Winner Laugh Out Loud Book Award (2017) – Shortlisted

Books I Tell Myself I'm Awesome (Bloomsbury, 2026) (illustrated by Chris Piascik) I Am (Collins, 2024) (illustrated by Evelline Andrya) Poetry Is Not for Me (Collins, 2023) (illustrated by Rebecca Burgess) Who Let the Words Out? (Bloomsbury, 2023) (illustrated by Chris Piascik) Yapping Away (Bloomsbury, 2021) (illustrated by Sarah Horne) Welcome to My Crazy Life (Bloomsbury, 2020) (illustrated by Chris Piascik) I Bet I Can Make You Laugh (Bloomsbury, 2018) (illustrated by Tim Wesson) Yuck and Yum (Troika, 2018) with Neal Zetter (illustrated by Scoular Anderson) Just Like Me! (Flying Eye Books, 2017) (illustrated by Amélie Faliere) Morris Wants More (Flying Eye Books, 2017) (illustrated by Amélie Faliere) Little Lemur Laughing (Bloomsbury, 2017) (illustrated by Chris Piascik) I Don't Like Poetry (Bloomsbury, 2016) (illustrated by Chris Piascik)