Elizabeth Laird was born in Wellington, New Zealand, but is of Scottish descent and was educated at Croydon High School.

She spent a year teaching in Malaysia, before studying languages at Bristol and Edinburgh universities. Elizabeth has spent many years living and working abroad, including long spells in Lebanon, Ethiopia and India. She now lives in Richmond with her husband, David McDowall, a writer on Middle Eastern Affairs.

Elizabeth has published many books for all ages and has won and been shortlisted for many prestigious awards. In 2008 Crusade was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book of the Year; Jake’s Tower was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and in 2004 The Garbage King won the Scottish Arts Council Book Prize.

Website: http://www.elizabethlaird.co.uk

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