TED HUGHES is widely considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. He was born in Yorkshire in 1930, and was Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998. Hughes co-founded the Children's Laureateship with Michael Morpurgo. In 1974 Hughes was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. In 1977 he was awarded an OBE for services to Literature, and was awarded the OM in 1998. Chris Riddell was the 2015-2017 UK Children's Laureate and is currently the political cartoonist for The Observer. His books for children have won a number of major prizes, including three CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals, the Costa Children's Book Award, the Unesco Award and the Smarties Gold Award. Chris collaborated with Paul Stewart on the best-selling Edge Chronicles series and has also collaborated successfully with Neil Gaiman (Fortunately, the Milk, The Sleeper and the Spindle, The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere and Coraline). He received the Hay Festival Medal for Illustration at the 2015 Hay Festival. Chris lives in Brighton with his family. He names Ted Hughes as one of his mentors, 'As a young man, it was a seminal experience working with Ted Hughes' (The Financial Times).