Writers of Colour are Furious with Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Here’s why…
Famous children’s festival excludes and then tries to silence writers of colour. Promptly told to behave. Iqbal Hussain gives the breakdown.
Author: Iqbal Hussain
Iqbal has been writing for as long as he could hold a pencil. Then came his first Petite toy typewriter—and he never looked back. His debut adult novel, Northern Boy, was published by Unbound in 2024, and his debut children’s novel, The Night I Borrowed Time, will be published by Puffin in February 2026. His short stories have appeared in print and online, including in The Willowherb Review and The Hopper. He was joint runner-up in The Evening Standard Stories Competition and winner of the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature short story competition. Iqbal lives in north London but still considers himself a Northern boy—and his flattened vowels bear it out.