Ambassadors

Nick Hornby (Co-Founder) was born in 1957. He is the author of six novels, High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down (shortlisted for the Whitbread Award), Slam and Juliet, Naked. He has also written three works of non-fiction, Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award), 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Books Critics Circle Award), The Complete Polysyllabic Spree and a Pocket Penguin book of short stories, Otherwise Pandemonium. He wrote the screenplay for the film An Education, for which he was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. Nick Hornby lives and works in Highbury, North London. He is a founding parent of The TreeHouse Trust, the national charity for autism education, established in 1997 by a group of parents whose children had recently been diagnosed with severe autism.
Read Nick Hornby's comments on The Ministry of Stories

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of nine novels, three of which were made into films (The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van). Doyle's novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won the Booker Prize in 1993, Britain's highest literary award. He has also written screenplays, children’s books, plays, short stories and a memoir about his parents, Rory & Ita. Doyle spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993. He established a creative writing centre, Fighting Words, which opened in Dublin in January 2009. Inspired by Dave Eggers’ 826 Valencia project in San Francisco, Fighting Words helps students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing. A core principle is that all tutoring in creative writing is provided free.
Read Roddy Doyle's comments on The Ministry of Stories

Hari Kunzru was born in 1969 and lives in east London. His first novel, The Impressionist, was the winner of the Betty Trask Prize 2002 and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Whitbread First Novel Award. Hari Kunzru was named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, 2003. Other novels include Transmission and My Revolutions. He is Deputy President of English PEN, a patron of the Refugee Council and a member of the editorial board of Mute magazine. He lives in New York City, and is working on a fourth novel, set in the Mojave desert.
Read Hari Kunzru's comments on The Ministry of Stories

Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975. White Teeth is her first novel and has won awards for Best Book and Best Female Newcomer at the BT Emma Awards (Ethnic and Multicultural Media Awards), the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread Prize for a first novel in 2000, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction 2000, the WH Smith Book Award for New Talent, the Frankfurt eBook Award for Best Fiction Work Originally Published in 2000 and both the Commonwealth Writers First Book Award and Overall Commonwealth Writers Prize. Her other novels are The Autograph Man and On Beauty, which was shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize 2005 and won The Orange Prize for Fiction 2006.
Read Zadie Smith's comments on The Ministry of Stories

Kwame Kwei-Armah is a playwright, actor, broadcaster, journalist and director. He was Writer in Residence at the Bristol Old Vic 1999-2001 where he wrote three plays - A Bitter Herb (Winner Peggy Ramsey award), Blues Brother Soul Sister, and Big Nose. He is currently Writer in Residence for BBC Radio drama, an Associate Artist at the National Theatre of Gt. Britain, Centerstage Baltimore and Congo Square theatre company Chicago USA. His triptych of plays set in the habits of the African Caribbean community - Elmina’s Kitchen, Fix Up and Statement of Regret premiered at the National Theatre between 2003- 2007, with Elmina’s Kitchen transferring to the London’s West End, Baltimore and Chicago. Awards include the Evening Standard Charles Wintor Award for Most Promising Playwright, Screen Nation Award for Favourite TV Actor, a nomination for a Lawrence Oliver Award and a BAFTA. He has recently completed directing his own play, Let There Be Love, at the Tricycle Theatre London.
Read Kwame Kwei-Armah's comments on The Ministry of Stories

Joe Dunthorne Joe was born and brought up in Swansea. His debut novel, Submarine, won the Curtis Brown prize and has been translated into ten languages. A film of the book, directed by Richard Ayoade and produced by Warp Films, was launched at the Toronto Film Festival, 2010. His debut poetry pamphlet was published by Faber. He is a striker for the England Writers' Football Team.
Read Joe Dunthorne's comments on The Ministry of Stories

Advisory Panel:
The Ministry of Stories dedicated Advisory Board members include: Zadie Smith, Guardian and Whitbread first novel winner; Meera Syal, award-winning writer and actress; Linda Thompson, folk singer; Rachel Cooke, award-winning journalist; Dominic Cooper, stage and screen actor; Laura Dockrill, poet and illustrator; David Nicholls, author and screenwriter; and Charlie Leadbeater, author and innovation strategist.