Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. 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 Rosen is Patron of Borderline Books, a project orchestrated by The Kittiwake Trust – our 2018 Charity of the Year.
What was the last book you read?
The Production of Money: How to Break the Power of Bankers by Ann Pettifor (Verso).
Which writer would you have loved to have met and why?
Emile Zola, so that I could ask him why exactly did he choose to support Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
What TV series are you obsessing over right now?
Spiral, the French cop series which has just concluded season 6 – I love the way it shows a cross-section of French society each, in its own way, acting wrongly!
You’re stranded on a desert island. What three books would you want with you?
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare so that I could learn the speeches! The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes and the Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes edited by Peter and Iona Opie.
What is the single biggest challenge facing the publishing industry right now?
There is no regular books programme on domestic television!
How does social media aid the publishing industry?
If it is used well, social media has the potential to reach millions and has the advantage of opening conversations with and between readers.
What was your first job?
Plucking chickens at Christmas in a butcher’s shop.
What is the silliest thing you have on your desk?
It is the little drawer out of an East German money box that I bought in 1957. It’s the only part of the money box that has survived the years!
Tell us about a passion you have outside the business.
The pain of watching Arsenal with my sons over the last 10 years.