Raymond Briggs and Matthew Fitt

Raymond Briggs is one of our most respected and beloved artists. Born in Wimbledon Park in 1934, he studied at the Wimbledon School of Art and later at the Slade School of Fine Art, and went on to produce a treasure trove of work. He has created characters that are now icons for generations of children, including Fungus the Bogeyman, Father Christmas and, of course, the beloved Snowman.

Matthew Fitt is a novelist and poet as well as a translator. An acknowledged expert in the field of Scots language education, he has written numerous children’s books and translated a number of titles into Scots including Roald Dahl’s The Eejits and Geordie’s Mingin Medicine, David Walliams’ Mr Mingin and Billionaire Bairn and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stane. He is a co-founder of and contributing author to the Itchy Coo imprint. Matthew was winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Books award at the 2020 Scottish Book Trust Awards.