Short Story Judges

A. M. Dassu is a former World Book Day author and internationally acclaimed children's author. Her books have collectively been listed for over 55 awards including the Carnegie Medal, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and Week Junior Book Award.

A. M. Dassu is hosting a free online workshop for aspiring school-aged writers to explore stereotypes, media coverage, different perspectives and building empathy. The workshop ties in perfectly with this year's Inclusive Voices theme of empathy.

Sign up for the online workshop on 6th July

For Beth O’Brien work and leisure overlap as reading, writing and audiobooking are some of her favourite things to do.

Having been born visually impaired and with an upper-limb difference, Beth has a long-standing interest in the representation of disability in literature.

We chatted with Beth recently as part of our Calibre Conversations author interviews, so you can listen to her full interview now.

Beth’s debut middle grade book, Wolf Siren, has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing in 2026.

SJ Poyton has been making up stories since she was a child, recording them in pictures and badly spelt wobbly words (she has dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia). Her very first book was a comic about a bee.

She has always been fascinated by animals and conservation. Once, she even smuggled her pet parrot, Baby, into school for a debate about deforestation to show what was at stake when habitats are lost. Of course, she won the debate!

Sally Gardner is a multi-award-winning author and Carnegie Medal recipient. She has sold more than 3 million books worldwide.

Sally was our first Calibre Conversation for the National Year of Reading and she talked to us candidly about writing, dyslexia and the power of audiobooks. Listen to her full interview here.

Imogen is Managing Director of EmpathyLab, a not for profit which activates and celebrates the power of reading to increase real-life empathy. Through schools, libraries and communities, they help children and young people understand others, grow emotionally and connect with the world around them - ensuring stories have real world impact on people and planet.

Carla has worked in children’s audio for over twenty years, ten of which as a BBC producer across a variety of children’s programmes including CBeebies. She set up her children’s audio consultancy and production company, Small Productions, in 2011, which became Small Audio in 2021. Carla is passionate about helping clients to unlock their potential in audio.

Lulu Skantze is the Founder and Creative Director of Storytime, a children’s global brand launched in 2014 to inspire a love of reading through diverse and accessible stories. Passionate about literacy, empathy and inclusive storytelling, Lulu believes stories can help children better understand themselves and others.

Lulu regularly speaks about children’s media, reading for pleasure and the importance of diverse voices in storytelling all over the world.