Nush and the Stolen Emerald

Costa Award-winning children’s author Jasbinder Bilan was born on a farm in the foothills of the Himalayas. Her mum told her she was born in the stables, much to the rest of her family’s delight. When Jasbinder was one and a half her family moved to Nottingham, England where she grew up. It was a big adjustment for them and they kept India alive by telling funny stories of their life on their farm with the grumpy camel and the mischievous monkey. In Jasbinder’s writing she creates magical and real worlds and tells gripping adventures inspired by her love of family and home, and of cities and wild places across the UK and India. Her debut children’s novel Asha And The Spirit Bird won the Times/Chicken House Prize, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, longlisted for the Jhalak Prize, shortlisted for the Waterstones Book Prize and won the Costa Children’s Book Award. Her second novel Tamarind And The Star Of Ishta was longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Prize and won the Indie Children's Book Award. India, Incredible India was shortlisted in the Younger Non-Fiction category of the inaugural The Week Junior Book Awards.

Manjeet Mann is a multi-award winning children's author, actress, playwright and screenwriter from Birmingham, England. She has performed in numerous theatre productions touring all over the UK to the West End. Her screen credits include Eastenders, DCI Banks and Raised by Wolves. She has also written and performed in two solo theatre shows, both of which garnered five-star reviews. She is the winner of the Norman Beaton Radio Drama Award and has performed in over 100 radio plays. Manjeet Mann's novel The Crossing won the 2022 Costa Children's Book Award and she is the founder of Run the World, a not-for-profit organisation that uses sport and theatre as a means to empower women and girls.