Joseph Coelho

Joseph Aaron Coelho OBE FRSL is a British poet and children's book author who was Children's Laureate from 2022 to 2024. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2024, he was announced the winner of the Carnegie Medal for his YA novel The Boy Lost in the Maze.

Coelho grew up in a tower block in Roehampton, England, the son of a single parent. He became interested in poetry when Jean "Binta" Breeze visited his school whilst Coelho was in sixth form. He took A-Levels in Theatre Studies, English, Chemistry, History and an A/S in Archaeology. Coelho was an undergraduate student in archaeology at University College London (UCL). During his university days, he directed plays at UCL, after which he took various jobs, including working at Camden Council.

Coehlo lives in Edinburgh with his partner Manjeet Mann.

Coelho started performing poetry with performance poetry organisation Apples and Snakes in 2002, performing on the London Poetry Scene. Coelho has a long history in theatre both on stage and behind the scenes, which began as a youth at Group 64 in Putney. After university, Coelho worked with many companies behind the scenes, including the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, the Unicorn Theatre, Half Moon Theatre, Talawa Theatre Company, Oily Cart, and Theatre Centre.

Coelho is also a playwright and has written plays for the following companies:

Before being published, Coelho worked extensively in schools, engaging young people with literacy through the medium of poetry, running sessions through Performance Poetry Organisation Apples and Snakes, The Poetry Society, and Creative Partnerships. Coelho often runs CPD sessions with teachers, sharing ways to engage young people with poetry.

At the London Book Fair in 2012, Coelho met Janetta Otter-Barry, the founder of Otter-Barry books. This interaction launched Coelho's career as an author and published poet. In 2014 Coelho published Werewolf Club Rules, a poetry anthology which was awarded the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award. Coelho's second independent collection, Overheard in a Tower Block, was shortlisted for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award in 2018.

Coelho has written numerous books for young people, spanning picture books, middle-grade and YA. His debut picture book Luna Loves Library Day, with Fiona Lumbers, was nominated for the 2018 Kate Greenaway Medal and chosen as one of the nation's top 25 stories to share by World Book Day UK.