Englishwoman Liz Kessler has always wanted to write. Not only that, but she was convinced from a very early age that she would become a poet. She was nine years old when her poem, "Jinx's Shop," was published in the Manchester Evening News, in 1976. Yet, fate had different writing goals in mind for Ms Kessler: by the time she'd reached her 30's, she had decided to write books - switching her job to part-time in order to have more time to write.She studied English at Lougborough University, then did her teaching qualification at Keele University, then received her Masters degree in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Following university, Ms Kessler lived on a narrowboat on a canal for about 10 years, then moved to a house in Manchester for two years, then rented that house out for another year while she traveled around Europe in a campervan. (You can read about her traveling adventures on her blog: Liz Kessler's Blog.) Her newest adventure is to sell that Manchester house and move, possibly, to Cornwall.
She has been a teacher of English, and of Media Studies, and has run Creative Writing courses. She has been a journalist in local and regional newspapers in Manchester and York, in England. And of course, she writes novels for kids. Her Emily Windsnap series - about a seventh-grade girl who discovers she is a mermaid - now numbers four titles, and she has written two books in the Philippa Fisher series - about an 11-year-old girl and her fairy godsister.
Born in 1966, Liz Kessler grew up in Southport, England, the youngest of three siblings. She has a Dalmatian named Poppy, and enjoys sailing, playing guitar, surfing, and practicing one of her favorite hobbies: poi. (You can catch a glimpse of Ms Kessler and her poi skills here.)
