Joseph Coelho: Reading from Zombierella & chats about poetry

In partnership with Book Trust NI we are delighted to welcome to this year’s Festival multi-award winning children's author and poet Joseph Coelho. 

Join us for this lively session as Joseph reads a deliciously creepy extract from his middle grade novel Zombierella (the tale of Cinderella… with one key difference, she becomes a zombie!) and tells you about his journey into becoming a poet and children's author, whilst revealing some brilliant ways that you can start writing poems too! 

Please note this is a pre-recorded session and will be available for a period of 2 weeks following the event, further to registration. 

Looking to buy a book by one of the writers involved in this year's programme? Check out our official Festival Bookstore partner, No Alibi’s, who have created this special Belfast Book Festival page on their website which features the books and collections of the writers at the 2021 Festival. Plus they are offering a 10% discount on all of the Festival titles! 

About the author

Joseph Coelho is a multi-award winning children's author and poet who writes books across all age ranges from picture books right up to Young Adult verse novels. His work has appeared on Blue Peter, BBC Teach, and CBeebies rhyme Rocket. His poetry has appeared on the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, has been read by celebrities for the Premier League Primary Stars Project and has even been lit up at Blackpool illuminations. He is the winner of the 2019 Independent Bookshop Book Award with his picture book If All The World Were… and he won the 2015 CLPE CLIPPA Poetry Award with his debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules. 

His latest book The Girl Who Became A Tree is a story told in poems and is shortlisted for the 2021 Carnegie Medal.

Joseph has been encouraging young people to write for over 18 years he writes in a variety of mediums, but all have poetry at their heart.

A bit about Zombierella! 

A yellow moon hangs in a satin sky the night Cinderella, barefoot and in hand-me-downs, slips at the top of the stairs … and dies. But not for long. The Shadow of Death arrives to breathe life back into her bones and, for three nights only, Cinderella goes forth as ZOMBIERELLA. With her skin as cold as ice and her faithful horse Lumpkin back by her side, can she seek revenge on her three cruel, fake sisters, once and for all?

Crawl out of the grave and step into your mushroom carriage for this haunting and humorous adventure of the undead girl searching for her happily ever after.

"Such a fun story with excellent illustrations ... with enough familiarity to feel known but with enough difference to make it quirky and original" Malorie Blackman

In partnership with Belfast Book Festival and Book Trust NI Joseph will also be delivering a dynamic online motivational session in June with the pupils of Fane St. Primary School, a few miles from The Crescent Arts Centre, home of the Belfast Book Festival. The session will encourage the pupils of Fane St Primary School to create their own poems, in conversation with Joseph. A signed copy of one of Joseph’s books will also be provided for every child in the school and nursery. 

Joseph grew up in the last village in London, Roehampton, in a tower block with his mum and little sister. The idea of becoming a writer seemed far off to Joseph who saw it as a career for special people who lived elsewhere, and he was unable to read or write properly until the age of seven. Through a performance poetry course at Battersea Arts Centre Joseph shared his poems on stage and was also asked to share them in schools. He slowly began to dream about being a published writer.

BookTrust is UK’s largest children’s reading charity. Each year we reach millions of children and families, inspiring them with our books, resources and support to get them started on their reading journeys. We want all families to establish a routine of reading together with their babies as early as possible and to continue this throughout childhood as children learn to read independently. Reading matters because it can have a lifelong positive impact on a child, affecting their health and wellbeing, creativity and educational outcomes. Our focus is reaching children from economically disadvantaged and vulnerable family backgrounds, whilst retaining our commitment to all children BookTrust.org.uk