Richard Osman, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Joseph Coelho and Flavia Z Drago named Authors of the Day at LBF 2024
The London Book Fair (LBF) has announced the Authors of the Day line-up for the 2024 Fair. The line-up features Sunday Times best-selling author Richard Osman as Adult Author of the Day, Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as International Author of the Day, Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho as Children’s Author of the Day, and Klaus Flugge Prize winner Flavia Z Drago as Illustrator of the Fair.
Richard Osman
Best known as the creator and co-presenter of the BBC quiz show Pointless, Richard Osman’s career in television and comedy spans more than two decades.
In 2020, Osman broke records with his debut novel The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin Books) – a humorous detective romp featuring a group of pensioners sleuthing in a sleepy retirement village in Kent. As well as becoming the fastest selling adult crime debut in recorded history, it was widely praised by critics, with other books in the series including The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil to Die.
Joseph Coelho
Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho is an award-winning performance poet, playwright and children’s author. His work has poetry and performance at its heart, drawing on over 20 years’ experience running dynamic creative literacy sessions in schools.
Throughout his career he has highlighted the power of poetry and reading, championing and campaigning for local libraries and spotlights new voices and diversity throughout his work. His picture books include the critically acclaimed Luna Loves… series (Andersen Press) and If All the World Were… (Lincoln Children’s Books).
His work across poetry includes the collection Overheard in a Tower Block (Otter-Barry Books), and The Girl Who Became a Tree (Otter-Barry Books), Other work includes middle-grade series Fairytales Gone Bad (Walker) and YA Novel The Boy Lost in the Maze (Otter-Barry Books), as well as non-fiction titles including How To Write Poems (Bloomsbury) among others.
Taylor Jenkins Read
Taylor Jenkins Reid is a New York Times and Sunday Times best-selling author, screenwriter, and Emmy-nominated producer. Her most recent novel Carrie Soto Is Back debuted on the Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller lists.
Earlier this year, Amazon Prime Video released the television adaptation of her novel Daisy Jones and the Six, and the series received nine Emmy Award nominations. Her eight novels, including Malibu Rising, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do andForever, Interrupted have been translated into over forty languages and are beloved by an impressive and dedicated fan base.
Flavia Z Drago
Flavia Z Drago was born in Mexico City, where she grew up and studied graphic design. She studies Children’s Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK and is currently collaborating with Walker Books in London, making picture books with monsters as main characters.
Her first picture book as an author and illustrator called Gustavo the Shy Ghost (2020) became number one in The New York Times Best Sellers; it was followed by Leila the Perfect Witch (2022) and by Vlad the Fabulous Vampire (2023). In 2021 she was the winner of the Klaus Flugge Prize.
The Authors of the Day and Illustrator of the Fair will take part in ‘In Conversation’ events on different days throughout The London Book Fair. Taylor Jenkins Reid will be attending the fair on Tuesday 12 March, Richard Osman and Flavia Z Drago will appear at events on Wednesday 13 March, and Joseph Coelho will be speaking on Thursday 14 March. Full details of these sessions will be announced soon.
