Elen Caldecott

My name is Elen Caldecott, I am a writer for children and young people. I live in Bristol with my husband and my dog. Before my real dog arrived, I had an imaginary dog called Augustus Snags.

I have always liked to read books. When I was a child I would write sequels to some of my favourite books because I couldn’t bear to say goodbye to the characters. Eventually, I started inventing characters of my own.

Before becoming a writer, I was an archaeologist, a nurse, a theatre usher and a museum security guard. It was while working at the museum that I realised there a way to steal anything if you think about it hard enough. I either had to become a master thief, or create some characters to do it for me so I began my debut novel, How Kirsty Jenkins Stole The Elephant.

My work has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Award and the UKLA award, longlisted for the Carnegie and has won the Tir Na n'Og award.