SAM Gayton lives by the sea in Margate, where he spends his time creating all sorts of stuff. His six middle grade novels, published by Andersen Press, have been translated into several languages and have been twice nominated for the Carnegie medal. The Snow Merchant won the Tower Hamlets Book Award. Hercufleas won the North Somerset Teachers Award and was shortlisted for the UKLA award. His plays for Dumbshow Theatre include an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, and the play Clockheart Boy, which toured nationally twice.
During the pandemic, he created a virtual band called Breakfast of Champions. Though they never played in the same room, songs from their debut EP featured on the 2021 ITV sitcom Buffering.
As a workshop leader, he has toured schools and libraries in the UK, US, Vietnam, UAE, Qatar, Russia and Switzerland. He has delivered performances and workshops with a number of organisations, including the Museum of London and Edinburgh International Book Festival. He currently teaches creative writing for the University of Kent.
Sam loves gaming and ever since Primary school has designed his own games. His latest is a tabletop RPG called Game Over Man. He’s currently working on a card game inspired by tarot, Twin Peaks, TS Eliot’s poem The Wasteland, and his home town.
Sam once got paid to play charades on the London Underground.
If you would like to find out more about Sam you can do so via his website: www.samgayton.com
