Jon Blake is the author of over sixty titles for children, teens and adults, including the anticapitalist YA novel The Last Free Cat, chosen for the prestigious International Literary Association Young Choices list, and Thimble Monkey Superstar, with its disabled narrator based on Jon’s son, shortlisted for the Laugh Out Loud Awards. First published by Puffin in 1986, Jon was subsequently mentored by the legendary Wendy Boase of Walker Books, for whom he wrote Little Stupendo, shortlisted for the Children’s Book Award, and You’re A Hero Daley B , illustrated by the then unknown Axel Scheffler, which went on to sell half a million copies. Son of an electrician and shopworker, Jon was brought up in Southampton and has been resident in Cardiff since 1987, working on many community education projects, active in numerous political campaigns and serving and as a creative writing tutor at the universities of Glamorgan and Newport. He is also a BBC Talent award-winner for adult radio comedy and has been shortlisted for Writer’s Guild Best Children’s TV Script. Since 2013 Jon has run over 150 creative writing workshops at www.parkwrite.com.
