Author Archives: Joanna Nadin

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About Joanna Nadin

A former broadcast journalist and special adviser to the prime minister, since leaving politics I’ve written more than 80 books for children and adults, as well as speeches for politicians, and articles for newspapers and magazines like The Guardian, Red and The Amorist. I also lecture in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and hold a doctorate in young adult literature. I’m a winner of the Fantastic Book Award and the Surrey Book Award, and have been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Booktrust Best Book award and Queen of Teen among others, and twice nominated for the Carnegie Medal, for Everybody Hurts, and for Joe All Alone, which is now a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC TV series. I've also worked with Sir Chris Hoy on the Flying Fergus series and ghost-written Angry Birds under another name. I like London, New York, Essex, tea, cake, Marmite, mint imperials, prom dresses, pubs, that bit in the West Wing where Donna tells Josh she wouldn’t stop for a red light if he was in an accident, junk shops, crisps, Cornwall, St Custard’s, Portuguese custard tarts, political geeks, pin-up swimsuits, the Regency, high heels, horses, old songs, my Grandma’s fur coat, vinyl, liner notes, the smell of old books, the feel of a velveteen monkey, Guinness, quiffs, putting my hand in a bin of chicken feed, the 1950s, burlesque, automata, fiddles, flaneuring, gigs in fields on warm summer nights, Bath, the bath.

Irresolutions

This traditionally the time of year when I write myself a to-do list of utterly unachievable tasks e.g. a)    Learn to like milk b)   Remember to take vitamins c)    Wear sensible shoes d)   And pants e)    Train menace to use … Continue reading

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When I grow up…

This time next week, I have to stand up in front of hundreds of Bristol uni students, and tell them why I’m a writer. Which has led me to question many things e.g. my sanity when I agreed to do … Continue reading

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The ten signs of ageing

Am in state of mild shock. Apparently there are now ten signs of ageing. TEN! I was just about coping when Oil of Ulay (along with a Neanderthal hairline and a tendency to gingerness, I have also inherited from parents … Continue reading

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Funny Girl(s)

As you read this I am probably on a train to That London, wearing an inappropriate prom dress and feeling like have just ingested several bowls of porridge and fear. Or possibly (if you are late riser) I will be … Continue reading

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Big Bath Blog Story

Mostly I blog about one or all of the following: My daughter, aka the menace, and her habits of singing about dead sheep / demanding a recap of the facts of life. My mother, aka Mrs Nadin snr, and her … Continue reading

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Teenage Wasteland

The best thing about writing for and about teenagers, is that it gives you a chance to do it all again, and better. Actually, that’s not true. The best thing about being a writer is being able to watch Gossip … Continue reading

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Peopling Paradise

I knew her only vaguely. Billie, I mean. That she was a girl who had been raised In London – Peckham, where I had spent thirteen years – who was then transplanted, airlifted from that teeming, dirty-pavement, all-night city, with … Continue reading

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Funny girl

You know some weeks, everything goes a bit pants, and you end up sniveling into a cherry coke and packet of minstrels while watching The Princess Diaries and cursing boys/mothers/small children with a tendency to poo in inappropriate places? Well, … Continue reading

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A face for radio

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am too short and my hair is too mental for me to ever make it on TV. I am, however, an old hack at the radio lark, having done time (too much … Continue reading

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Book club blues…

Ever have trouble deciding what you’re going to read next? Yup, me too. But imagine if every time you had to choose a book, seven of your best friends had to agree that they wanted to read it that week, … Continue reading

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