Jon Blake

Jon Blake, born 1954, is the author of over fifty books, primarily for children and teenagers. He was brought up in Southampton, UK and now lives in Cardiff.

Jon's successes include "You're A Hero, Daley B" (Axel Scheffler's first picture book, worldwide sales of over 100,000) and "Little Stupendo" (shortlisted for the Children's Book Award).

Other big sellers include "One Girl School" and literacy hour favourite "Mark Two".

In 1995 Jon's TV play 'Life' was shortlisted for a Writers Guild Award, while in 2002 he won a BBC Talent award for his adult radio sitcom "Degrees R Us". Jon is particularly noted for original and anarchic humour, typified by "Stinky Finger's House of Fun" and the subsequent "House of Fun" series. However he has also written politically-charged fiction for an older readership, including his acclaimed novel, "The Last Free Cat". "The Last Free Cat" is included in Bookbag's Top Ten Love Stories for Teenagers.

Besides being a writer, Jon has been involved in many community projects and teaches creative writing at the University of Wales, Newport. He is also an activist, musician and songwriter.

In May 2011, "69ers" was published: an adult novel about the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, drawing on Jon's experiences of the landmark event starring Bob Dylan.

In Feb 2011 two CDs were released featuring Jon's (adult) songs: his own album "Closure" and "This is the Sound of Adamsdown", a portrait of the Cardiff inner city area through songs sung by its residents and produced by Jon and Catatonia's Mark Roberts. Both CDs can be purchased on Amazon.