James Carter

As a child

James was born at the age of zero. At the age of three, he started staring at the window and daydreaming. At the age of five, he discovered a small beat combo called The Beatles. At the age of seven, he discovered the delights of Tintin books. At fifteen, he started playing the electric guitar, writing songs and playing in horribly noisy heavy rock groups. Over the years, the groups became slightly less heavy, noisy and horrible. Honestly.

As an adult

After fifteen years of writing, performing and recording music (whilst doing a series of jobs from job centre interviewer to recruitment consultant), James went off to Reading University to do a B.Ed degree in primary education. He stayed on at Reading and did an MA in children’s literature. Over the last ten years, James has worked in education, lectured at Reading University in creative writing and children’s literature and has written five creative writing books for teachers. He lives in south Oxfordshire with his wife and two daughters.

As an artist

James visits schools all over the UK to give poetry/music performances and workshops. Says James: “I never set out to be a poet. I wrote songs/music for about fifteen years and when I started working in education, I found myself writing poems – and wow! People published all of them! I haven’t stopped since. I love writing poems, from raps to Haikus, playful poems about crisps or yappy dogs, to poems about feeling insecure or the nature of time. On one level, I don’t care what a poem is about – I’m more interested in the textures, rhythms and musicality of the words. Why write for children? Because I think I can be more quirky and playful writing for a young audience. I write for two distinct age groups – action type rhymes for three to five year olds, and a range of poems for six to eleven year olds. And performing poetry is a new treat for me; bringing poems to life with music, actions, climbing over furniture and asking children to join in with the chorus. I love it!”

Things you didn't know about James Carter

1. James is woken up by a strange cat called Alice.
2. James was called "Dormouse" by his teacher at school because he daydreamed the whole time.
3. He is left-handed.
4. His favourite crisps are cheese and onion. Not salt and vinegar. NO.
5. James played on a single that reached No. 3 in the Welsh heavy metal charts.
6. His guitar is called Keith.
7. His favourite music is by XTC, Tom Waits, the Beatles, Ben Webster and J. S. Bach.
8. His favourite poems are 'Horace' by Terry Jones and 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas.
9. Jacqueline Wilson dedicated her book Jimmy Jelly to James's daughter, Lauren.
10. James is the luckiest man on the planet and loves his wife and two daughters to bits.