The first day of the school summer holidays will be marked with a very special performance at The Cheese & Grain in Frome, with one of the world’s best-selling children’s authors and poet, Michael Rosen, on Monday 24th July……
With over 140 books published to his name, including the classics “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” and “A Great Big Cuddle”, plus 55 million views on his YouTube Channel ‘Kids Poems and Stories with Michael Rosen’; the Number 1 selling children’s author is all set to come to the Cheese and Grain.
Recently seen on BBC Breakfast and The Repair Shop, the visit also follows Rosen receiving the prestigious PEN Pinter Prize just last week, an award honoured to those whose work is committed to a fearless exposition of truth about contemporary life.
Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA and a PhD. He is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches an MA in Children’s Literature.
Michael is also a popular broadcaster and has presented BBC Radio 4’s acclaimed programme about language, “Word of Mouth” since 1998, as well as regularly presenting documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, including the Sony Gold Award-winning “On Saying Goodbye”.
Michael has published in the region of 200 books for children and adults, including “The Sad Book” with Quentin Blake (Walker Books) – a meditation on bereavement written after the loss of his son, Eddie; “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” with Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) – made into an animated film for Channel 4 broadcast Christmas Day 2016 – and “A Great Big Cuddle” with Chris Riddell (Walker Books) . His poetry for adults includes “Don’t Mention the Children” (Smokestack) and “Selected Poems” (Penguin). Non-fiction work for adults includes “Good Ideas: How to Be Your Child’s (and Your Own) Best Teacher” (John Murray), “The Disappearance of Emile Zola, Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case” (Faber), and his memoir “So They Call You Pisher!” (Verso).

He has written a book for children and teachers on writing poetry ‘What is Poetry?’ (Walker Books) and has done three booklets for teachers on writing and reading. These are available through his website http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk. He writes up a monthly news page on the website and a blog for teachers giving ideas for writing.
Michael writes a monthly open “letter” to the Secretary of State for Education in The Guardian where he critiques Government policy on schools from the standpoint of a parent. He visits schools, teachers’ conferences and university teacher training departments where he is in demand to give performances, workshops and keynote addresses. He also appears regularly at literary festivals all over the UK and Ireland.
Michael has received several honorary awards, including degrees from the Open University, the University of Exeter, the University of London Institute of Education and the University of East London/Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. For outstanding contribution to children’s literature he received the Eleanor Farjeon Award and was Children’s Laureate 2007-2009. In recognition of his contribution to the profile of French culture in the UK, he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
There are two shows on 24th July:
Show 1 doors at 10.30am – TICKETS
Show 2 doors at 13.30pm – TICKETS
Info: www.cheeseandgrain.com



Trending…..
Dinosaurs at Jurassic Hillworth Park!
Images: Jess Worrow Ah, for the connotations of US drive-in movie theaters, now in decline over the pond, but embedded as characteristic romantic americana; the…
3 Daft Monkeys Jumping on The Barge at Honeystreet
I can be sent an album, review it because I love it, and put the artists atop of my cognitive must-see list. Although the list…
“Playhouse Creatures” at The Wharf Theatre, Devizes, October 8th-10th – A preview
by Ian Diddams images by Simon Hoy This tragi-comic play, set in 1660s London, focuses on the first English actresses allowed on stage after the…
Halloween Firewalk for Wiltshire & Bath Air Ambulance
Would you dare to join Wiltshire & Bath Air Ambulance at their airbase on Friday 30 October 2026 for an unforgettable Firewalk Challenge? Feel the…
Ruby Darbyshire’s Freeman Tribute at Ilfracombe Festival
If it’s not unusual for Wiltshire singer-songwriter Ruby Darbyshire to break out the bagpipes at a gig, it’s often for a solo stint of piping.…
“Pink Mist” at The Mission Theatre, Bath, September 9th-12th
by Ian Diddams images by Mike Stevens This week marks 25 years since 9/11 (11 September 2001), when the world awoke to the news that…
I See Orange Pining For Apollo
If spring saw Swindon’s premier rock trio I See Orange breaking new ground on a US tour, autumn brings with it their first full length…
DOCA Awarded National Lottery Grant
Congratulations to Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts, who announced yesterday that they’ve been awarded a substantial National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England…. This is…
Chippenham MP Sarah Gibson Reflects on Shayne Hambakachere Case
Looking at the evidence presented by the media on the Shayne Hambakachere case in Chippenham, unless there is something we’re not being told I’m of…
Wiltshire Music Awards Announce Ceremony Lineup, Excruciatingly AI
With an AI-powered poster so excruciating I cannot bring myself to show it here, this year’s Wiltshire Music Awards announce the lineup for their ceremony.…