Coral Rumble

Coral is a popular poet and performer, who won the prestigious ‘Caterpillar Poetry Prize’ in 2018. Her collection, ‘Riding a Lion’, was shortlisted for the North Somerset Teachers’ Book Awards, 2020, and she won the ‘Spark! School Book Awards’, 2023, with her collection, ‘Things That Should Be in a Poem’. Her verse novel, ‘Little Light’, was shortlisted for a UKLA Award, 2023. She has had 5 poetry collections published, alongside other books. Her debut novel for children, ‘Jakub’s Otter’, is out now! 

Michael Rosen – ‘Rumble has a dash and delight about her work’.

Casting the Net Wider – Ensuring the Minority Amongst Minorities Are Seen in Books. 

In this keynote speech, author Coral Rumble will be discussing the emergence of new minorities in an ever-changing world and how our understanding of minority, difference and disadvantage need to expand. She will refer to characters in her own books and in the books of others.

Fb – Coral Rumble, Insta and Threads – @rumblecoral, X – @RumbleCoral

 Professor Robin Banerjee

Professor Robin Banerjee is a professor of developmental psychology and the inaugural Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global and Civic Engagement at the University of Sussex. Formerly Head of the School of Psychology, his research focuses on the social and emotional development of young people, and he works closely with practitioners and policymakers in the areas of education and mental health. He founded the Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness, an interdisciplinary research centre focused on illuminating the nature of kindness and its impacts on people and communities. Professor Banerjee recently led The Kindness Test, a partnership with the BBC that became the world’s largest ever public science project on kindness. He is an expert advisor to EmpathyLab, an organisation that works with schools, libraries, and other community stakeholders to promote empathy and reading for pleasure through the power of children’s books.

In his keynote, Professor Robin Banerjee will share preliminary findings from an ongoing research project on the links between reading fiction and children’s empathy and prosocial behaviour.This will also include research findings regarding the social and emotional development of children and young people at school, and consider the implications of his work on empathy and kindness for promoting positive relationships, mental health, and wellbeing across the whole school community.