Joseph Coelho chosen as Britain’s new children’s laureate

The poet and children's author, who takes over from Cressida Cowell, was praised as an extraordinary advocate for making poetry accessible to all'

Poet, playwright and author Joseph Coelho has been named the new Waterstones children's laureate, and will look to celebrate the power of poetry during his two-year tenure.

Coelho takes over the role from How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell, who served three years instead of the usual two because of the coronavirus pandemic. He was announced as laureate at an event today at the Unicorn theatre, London, where he was given his bespoke laureate medal by Cowell. At the ceremony, Coelho performed a new poem he had written to mark the occasion, titled The Power of a Poem.