This dystopian novel leads the reader down a dark path towards the perils of religion and oppressive patriarchy. A religious shift in the US-American government calling itself the ‘Pure Movement’ results in women being stripped of their voices: Handcuffs every woman has to wear count their spoken words and if the daily number exceeds 100, […]

In this dystopian future set in Australia, there are no more bees in the whole wide world. Children are charged with hand pollination, trying to replace the bees as best they can, but 9-year-old Peony is still too young to take on the job. Nevertheless, she is convinced that she would make a fabulous bee […]

This poem illustrates why Zephaniah himself rejected the title Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003: A rhyming critique of authors who work towards and accept awards only to compromise their voice afterwards.

An empowering poem on migration and diversity creating an understanding for the fact that it takes so little to turn a ‘someone’ into a refugee because, following the speaker, we ‘all came here from somewhere’.

A poem calling for justice, respect and equality. Zephaniah reflects on the diverse backgrounds of the people currently living in the United Kingdom, all mixed up in the shape of a recipe.

Powerful teenage fiction about how to not give up in life even though you are facing terminal illness. This young adult novel follows 16-year-old cancer patient Hazel. Reluctantly attending a meeting of her cancer support group, she happens to meet Augustus, a boy she soon feels drawn to, even more so when they discover their […]

A dystopian novel between loyalty and betrayal, publicity and privacy. When Mae is offered to work at The Circle, an influential tech company, she could not be happier. It is only when she realizes the company’s desire to permeate ever more fields of their customers’ lives that Mae starts to wonder where the use of […]

This novel portrays abuse, resilience, violence and a girl fighting for her rights. The story follows 15-year-old Aiyana’s escape from a brutal patriarchal riverboat community in Arkansas in the 1930s. Having been denied any education and having suffered from her abusive father, this young heroine sets out to flee with only her grandmother and brother […]

This story about loss and release came second in the Costa Short Story Awards 2019: The reader follows a father and his son on a hike along a mountainous path. What starts as a nice enough pastime quickly makes a turn for the worse…

An intrusion fantasy novel about suffering, isolation, grief, self-awareness, family and growing up. Connor is a 13-year old teenager, whose mother suffers from cancer and is going through chemotherapy. One night he is visited by a monster that claims to be a version of the Green Man, the pagan personification of nature. As Conner is […]

After surviving the adventures in the Harry Potter novels and triumphing over the evil Lord Voldemort, Harry, Hermione and Ron have grown up and find themselves on platform 9 3/4. Together with Rose, the daughter of Harry’s friends and Albus, Harry’s son they wait for the Hogwarts Express to take the children to Hogwarts for […]

A novel navigating peer-pressure, friendship, love, migration and casual racism. Chevalier retells the story of Shakespeare’s play Othello but set in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s. 11 year old protagonist Osei, the son of a diplomat, starts his first day at a new school, the fourth school in six years. Luckily, he finds a potential […]

A fantasy story in rhymes that encourages bravery, the willingness to help others, and the necessity to follow your passions and dreams. “Meet the Flying Doctors – a dragon, knight and girl. Their names are Gadabout the Great, and Zog, and Princess Pearl […]”, who embark on adventures as a team.

A story in rhymes about crime, ministry and the clever, book-loving detective dog Nel. When the school’s library simply vanishes overnight, it is up to Nell to sniff out the culprit. 

An eco-critical story on friendship, survival and environmental pollution reminding us to keep trash out of the sea. Tally, a little Turtle, and her friend Ara, a red lobster, are swimming through the Pacific Ocean when they come upon some funnily-shaped, colorful objects floating by. What seems like a dream turns into a nightmare: Tally […]

This little story on environmental pollution follows Stanley – who is no ordinary jellyfish but a little plastic bag that was thrown into the ocean. Foregrounding the dangers for sea creatures who want to take a bite of Stanley, this story makes clear that plastic bags do not belong in the sea. As the story […]

In this sonnet, the speaker tells the story of a relationship between a man and a woman problematising traditional gender roles. Due to seemingly insignificant household problems, they both feel stressed in their relationship. This causes him to get drunk and complain about his relationship and her to write bad protest poems and “torment” her […]

A spoken-word poem by Darryll Suliaman Amoako aka ‘Suli Breaks’ about the limitations of institutional schooling and the strictures of formal education. The speaker critically reflects upon the necessity to achieve academic degrees and encourages the audience to reassess their definition of education, as “there is more than one way in this world to be, […]