Past Finalists A to F

Laure Allain is a Brussels-based illustrator and author.

She has studied Dutch and English literature and linguistics and – more recently – graphic storytelling.

In the past, she has worked as a researcher, editor and teacher.

When she is not working, she is busy chasing after her toddler and her parakeet.

Anne writes for children and teens about the messy juxtaposition between beauty, fantasy, and gritty reality.

She has an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University and currently lives in Illinois.

When she’s not writing, she’s happiest working with children, cooking, travelling, and curling up with a good book.

Alex loves scary books. She blames a childhood spent playing murder-in-the-dark and listening to her dad’s blood-curdling bedtime stories.

Her UV 2022 anthology entry was called The Lord of the Hat.

Relly Annett-Baker lives with a marvellous menagerie of mammals, including a husband and two beautiful boys.

She’s worked as a content strategist, writer and speaker all over the world for government, science labs, environmental charities, but her first love is stories.

Her entry in the Undiscovered Voices 2016 anthology was called The Unwilling Goddess.

Annaliese has spent most of her life surrounded by stories, both at work as a library manager and at home writing them.

She holds an MA in Creative Writing and is now the Program Leader for The Golden Egg Academy in Scotland which leads creative writing workshops across the UK.

In January 2020, Annaliese was shortlisted for the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices 2020 anthology. The Nightsilver Promise is her debut middle-grade novel, and the first in a thrilling, new fantasy trilogy.

Yvonne Banham grew up on an island off the Cumbrian coast and spent lots of time huddled on the beach with a scary book.

She can speak Dutch (badly) and believes in ghosts though she’s never met one. She lives in Stirlingshire with her husband, and when she’s not writing, she’s hiking or trail running with her very naughty hound.

Her MG debut The Dark and Dangerous Gifts of Delores Mackenzie will be published by Firefly in April 2023.

Monika is an illustrator living and working in Switzerland. Coming from a background in linguistics and corporate accounting, she is passionate about visual storytelling.

She works in watercolours and digital media and is interested in fantasy and adventure, as well as more traditional illustration subjects.

Victoria is a previous UV winner (2022) and is currently writing a two book YA series for Working Partners.

Her passion is science fiction, in particular anything involving weird and wonderful plants. She works as a botanist for her day job, surveying habitats in England and lives in Brighton.

Rosie lives in Cambridge and loves all things nerdy. She is an editor at Working Partners Ltd.

As well as publishing Skulk under her own name she has written under pseudonyms on series published by Usborne, Hot Key Books and HarperCollins.

She is the seventh Erin Hunter, writing books in the Survivors series. When not writing or playing video games she sings with the Crouch End Festival Chorus.

Georgia is a YA-reading, Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-obsessed librarian.

Working in libraries gave her access to a huge range of books for children and teens, and after reading so many of them, she decided to set herself the challenge of writing one.

Her entry in the Undiscovered Voices 2016 anthology was called Clopwyck River.

Anna Bowles likes chocolate, cuddly hippos and reading depressing Russian novels in the original language.

She’s a professional editor but thinks writing is a lot more fun.

Her entry in the UV 2016 anthology was called Steel Tanya.

Sharon writes YA novels, short stories and flash fiction.

She has won Writers’ Forum, HISSAC and Exeter Writers’ short story competitions, and was longlisted in the 2020 Bath Children’s Novel Award.

Anna’s writing career started in journalism as a travel writer.

Her debut novel, Monster Bogey (out now and published by Chicken House), was a SCBWI Undiscovered Voices winner (anthology name: Sean & The Frankenbogey). It was also longlisted for the Bath Children’s Novel award. The sequel, Monster Stink, will be released in the UK in August 2023.

She also has picture books in the pipeline (more on that in 2024). 

Susan is a Lancashire lass who loves writing middle-grade historical fiction.

She has worked as a journalist, sub-editor and in education roles at historical houses, a farm, a mill, a zoo and a former priory.

Susan was awarded the Margaret Carey scholarship in 2015.

A native Minnesotan, she currently lives in disgustingly beautiful Bavaria, Germany with her family.

Her most recent adventure is working towards a Masters of Arts in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, England while scribbling down scenes for her new novel on the side.

Sophie Cameron is a YA & MG writer from the Scottish Highlands. Her debut novel OUT OF THE BLUE was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2019 and her books have been featured in Kirkus’ Best YA of the Year and the ALA Rainbow Book List, among others. She lives in Spain with her wife and their twin boys.

Working in the City lost its appeal, long hours making me miss bedtime with my boys.

Who wouldn’t rather be reading Room on the Broom than sitting in a meeting? My love of children’s books reborn, I started to write.

Writing is my time – squeezed in between the boys’ football, tennis, cricket…

Sarwat writes EPIC stories. The latest is SHADOW MAGIC, about a beautiful princess who rules a kingdom of undead and an outlaw boy who flies a giant vampire bat, because bats are cool.

He has written the ASH MISTRY trilogy, featuring a British-Asian hero and before that, he wrote the DEVIL’S KISS series, starring the only female Knight Templar.

When not writing novels, Sarwat’s busy writing comic strips, such as 18 Days, the sci-fi adaptation of the Indian Mahabharata.

Katrina was an Undiscovered Voices finalist in 2014, and soon after signed with superstar agent Gemma Cooper at The Bent Agency. She writes for all ages from Picture books up to Middle Grade and has since had over thirty books published including bestselling chapter book series The Last Firehawk.

In 2021 she won the Hampshire Book Prize for the ABC Factor and Booktrust’s Storytime prize for her book The Whales on the Bus illustrated by Nick Sharratt.

In 2013 she was a recipient of the SCBWI BI Margaret Carey scholarship.

After Uni, Ali moved to London to pursue a career in television. She worked on a wide range of shows from Teletubbies to Friends.

She now lives in Essex with a houseful of teenagers and can often be found freezing on the side of a rugby pitch.

Christian lives in south-east London.

He is currently rewriting while fending off a pair of very needy cats.

Zoe spent fifteen years in the grown-up world before quitting her management job to write for a living (albeit mostly reports, funding bids and business cases).

An avid reader, Zoe reviews children’s books on her website and would love to write for book packagers or publishers developing in-house fiction/non-fiction.

Adam’s debut novel is a science inspired YA thriller set on board the world’s first deep-sea mining rig.

He is a former physicist and former child who likes writing stories and building unlikely, poorly thought through gadgets with his sons. He started his career as a physicist, building part of the Large Hadron Collider in CERN. He has also sold encyclopaedias in Chicago, worked for an investment bank, taught physics in Sudan, fitted emergency Wi-Fi in the refugee camps in Greece, and now works as an engineering manager in the Google Research team.

He lives in Hertfordshire with his partner, two sons, and a dog named Rosie.

Veronica notched up her first rejection slip early, for a ‘novel’ written at boarding school as a distraction from homesickness.

Decades later, now published in over a dozen countries, she is re-working that story – never throw anything away!

She currently lives in Hampshire, with a houseful of fauna and flora.

Dave Cousins’ writing has been described as “teen realism with action, humour and heart.”

His YA novels were both nominated for the Carnegie Medal, and have won awards worldwide.

Dave also writes and illustrates the Charlie Merrick series for slightly younger readers.

He tours extensively, visiting schools, libraries and festivals.

James currently works as a natural history video editor and has always wanted to pursue a career in illustration.

He builds his portfolio in his free time, focusing on the natural world and science communication inspired by his degree in Zoology, and a strong affinity with animals and education.

Nick is a writer and illustrator with more than ten short stories published in children’s magazines – these were hailed by an editor as “miniature marvels.”

An irreverent sense of humour infuses all of Nick’s work, and he enjoys combining words, images and design to create uniquely engaging fiction.

Sue Cunningham writes YA with humour and a hint of magic. Her debut novel is due to be published by Scholastic UK in autumn 2023.

Sue lives in a Manchester man cave with her husband, teen sons and a super-clingy cockapoo. When she’s not writing or tripping over electric guitar cables, she works for the NHS.

Awards: UV2022, winner: WriteMentor Children’s Novel Award 2020, shortlisted: Northern Writers 2022, York Festival of Writing Best Opening Chapter, longlisted: Bath Children’s Novel Award 2020. Short story awards include competitions run by Writer’s Forum magazine and Orion/Darley Anderson.

Sarah co-runs and co-owns a broadcast talent agency and in an earlier life worked in TV production. She loves history, politics, travelling, adventure, big cities, big countryside, gardening, reading and writing. Raised in County Durham, she now lives and works in London.

Emma Dowson works as a book publicist. After working with authors on their books, she realised that she wanted to write her own!

She lives in London with her two children and two rabbits. She likes Chinese food, holidays, baking and reading, and hopes to have a dog one day.

Her entry in the UV 2016 anthology was called The Chinatown Cat.

Jude grew up abroad before attending secondary school and university in the United Kingdom and developing her career in education.

She completed her Masters in Writing for Children, gaining a Distinction in 2011.

Jude continues to enjoy writing whilst combining this with her work in education.

Lucy is an illustrator and aspiring writer of picture books.

She’s been freelance for around ten years and has undertaken a variety of commissions from many different clients such as greeting cards, illustrations for apps, magazine illustrations and picture books written by self-publishing authors.

Recent work has been with Little Tiger Press, the Environment Agency and Newcastle University.

Claire used to work in a library before Undiscovered Voices turned her into a full-time author.

She now spends her days happily writing about pirates and magic.

P. M. Freestone has a mailing address in Scotland but spends most days immersed in epic fantasy worlds.

Her debut YA novel, Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom was published by Scholastic in the UK and US, and has since been translated into seven other languages.