NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT DEAN ATTA 1. Why did you become a writer? I began writing as a teenager to share my thoughts and feelings, and assert my pride in being black and gay. I started going to open mic nights in places like The Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden in London. I was spotted by a radio producer and invited to record a poem for BBC Radio 4 when I was eighteen, and I kept going from there. I went to the University of Sussex in Brighton and was pretty prolific at the campus poetry nights.  When I finished university, I moved back to London and got involved in more open mic nights all over the city and eventually I started getting paid to perform my poems and run poetry workshops in schools, theatres, libraries and prisons. I had some more poems on radio and TV, and eventually published my first poetry collection. More recently I published my second book, a Young Adult novel in verse called The Black Flamingo .  2. Tell us about where you live. I now s...

Northern Highlight Jarvis 1. Why did you become a writer/illustrator? A few things led me here. I have always illustrated but as part of a business (animation/graphic design, etc.)  and  never as ME.  Then, when I met my wife, I used to write her poems (still do a bit but nowhere near enough, I'm sure she will say!) and so I started to write which I had never done before. That led me to think of stories and when I wandered into the kids' section of a bookshop, I saw Marta Altes' 'NO' and it made me realise how great children's book could be. Published by Walker Books 2. Tell us about where you live. I live just outside Manchester in a place called Stalybridge. It's halfway between the city and the moors. I like it because I grew up in Wales surrounded by big hills and it's the same here. There's something comforting and grounding about a hilly landscape for me. I live with my wife, Jenna, and our dog, Milo. 3. Whe...

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT JAKE HOPE 1. Why did you want to work in the book industry? Books, stories and reading have always been incredibly important in my life. There is something hugely inspiring about the fact that we can read the same text and yet respond and react in wholly different ways. Books help us to unlock who and how we are and also who and how our lives could be; they show us different ways of thinking, feeling and seeing the world so that little by little, we begin to grow into bigger, more understanding people with a wider sense of our world. I always wanted to work with books, there is something beguiling about them. 2. Tell us about where you live. Apart from one year studying in Reading, I've always lived in the North. I spent the first six years of my life living in Fleetwood, a slightly other-worldly old fishing-town, and have happy memories of attending weekly storytimes in the library there with my mum and on Saturdays being taken to t...

We are all aware of how difficult small businesses are finding it at the moment. Our hearts are particularly with the bookshops across the North and Scotland who are struggling as they keep their doors safely closed. It's been amazing to see the support from the publishing industry and individuals online doing their best to shout about the bookselling services still being provided across our regions. Indiebookshops.com have put together an interactive map of all independent bookshops and the level of service they’re currently providing, making it really easy to find booksellers in the North and Scotland. This has recently been updated to include online booksellers and will continue to be regularly updated. Indiebookshops.com Books from Scotland are also providing a one-stop directory listing all bookshops offering a home delivery or click & collect service. Booksfromscotland.com And you can also order via Hive ,  Waterstones  and Blackwells  ...