John Dougherty

I've always been a writer, a dreamer, and a maker-up-of-stuff, and for the last two decades I've been lucky enough to be paid to make stuff up, write it down, and talk about it. My first book, Zeus on the Loose, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award, and since then I've written well over 30 books for children including the award-winning There's a Pig Up My Nose, the Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face series (translated into multiple languages worldwide) and my poetry collection Dinosaurs & Dinner-Ladies. Forthcoming titles include my second poetry collection and The Hare-Shaped Hole, a rhyming picture-book dealing with the difficult subject of loss.

I'm also a performer and communicator - I've spoken at schools and festivals from Swindon to Sydney and from Milan to Mumbai, and my poetry performance at the 2017 Hay Festival to an audience of 1700 was live-streamed to 900 schools throughout Wales. As a teacher for Domestika I hope to communicate my passion for the written word and inspire students to uncover and expand their own creativity.