Sean Taylor is an author, storyteller, and teacher who has written more than twenty books for young children, including The World Champion of Staying Awake, illustrated by Jimmy Liao. Sean Taylor divides his time between the U.K. and Brazil.
Jean Jullien is a graphic designer who works in a wide range of media, including illustration, photography, video, installation, and clothing. His clients have included the New Yorker, New York magazine, the Guardian, and the Pompidou Center. Originally from France, he now lives in London and regularly exhibits his work in both places.
ABOUT MEI grew up in the south of England and went to school in London. I went travelling from my early teens and, when I left school, made a journey to Zimbabwe. I spent nearly a year there, teaching in a rural secondary school. Then I went to Cambridge University and studied English Literature for three years. After that I lived in London and zigzagged through different jobs including work at a publisher, writing for newspapers, teaching adults to read and write, and being the Literature Development Worker for East London. In the early 1990’s I met my wife, who is from Brazil. We have two sons and spend our lives partly in the UK and partly in Brazil. Writing is a good job for someone who loves moving around. (Or maybe moving around is a good lifestyle for someone who loves writing!)
ABOUT MY WORKMost of my earliest work was poetry for adults. This took me into schools to run poetry workshops. I enjoyed doing that so much that I began to write for (and about) the children I was teaching. I have now written over 40 books for young readers. These include picture books such as
The World Champion of Staying Awake,
BOING!, the multiple-award-winning
When a Monster is Born and
Crocodiles are the Best Animals of All (which was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.) For 8-10 year olds I have written the comic
Purple Class books (also shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize) and a collection of folktales from the Amazon called
The Great Snake. And in 2012 I published
A Waste of Good Paper, a novel for teenagers.
THREE THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT MEI listen to music when I write. Usually music that is good to dance to.
Because of my connections with Brazil, I spend some of the time thinking in Portuguese.
Once, during carnival in Brazil, I dressed up as Robin Hood and fired arrows with poems on into the crowd. I have also dressed up as John Lennon, a punk, a businessman in a pinstriped suit, a caveman and a crocodile…
