About the author and contributor team

Ali Al-Jamri is a poet and translator. He is the editor of Between Two Islands (2021), an anthology of diaspora Bahraini poetry, and has been published in magazines and anthologies. Growing up, Ali never saw positive depictions of the South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region in his own education, and today that fuels his passion for providing a decolonised curriculum to young people. He teaches English at a secondary school in Salford.

Joanne Benjamin-Lewis is a former school leader, education consultant and Head of English. She is a mother, wife and carer for her elderly mother. A regular speaker on BBC radio current affairs programmes, Joanne cares passionately about giving those who are marginalised a space to tell their stories. Joanne has contributed to the Confidence Confidential anthology, devised a short film and is the co-writer of an art house play. As a public governor for a Birmingham NHS Trust, Joanne keeps disparities around health and race at the top of the agenda. She also supports sickle cell and dementia charities and volunteers at a supplementary Saturday school.

Djamila Boothman is an Assistant Headteacher, Teach First Ambassador, mother, documentary-maker (Hush…We Came On Windrush, 2020) and proud BritishCaribbean. She believes that cultural competence and educational disadvantage must be tackled through the curriculum and, as an English teacher, values the power that literature has as a gateway to new worlds and experiences. Practising a ‘you cannot be what you cannot see’ mantra, she is committed to improving cultural representation in the English curriculum as a means of increasing student inquiry and attainment, promoting pride in and placing equal value on the lived experiences of all children in Britain’s classrooms.

Maria Cairney is an English A level teacher who has worked for the past 15 years with a richly diverse student community in inner-city Manchester. She is also a senior examiner and educational writer who has contributed to textbooks and written introductions and study notes for seven titles in the recent Collins Classroom Classics series.

Mike Gould is a former Head of English, lecturer and educational consultant who began his career at a multicultural school in Luton and who has worked supporting schools across the country for organisations such as the National Literacy Trust. He has written over 150 books for UK and international students and teachers, including dedicated resources for the Caribbean, Singapore and The Gulf.

Chris Clyde Green is a Jamaican and British educator, journalist, author, actor, speaker and consultant. He currently resides in Switzerland with his wife and son. He has worked globally and locally within the arts, education and music. As an educator, he has worked with the International Baccalaureate Organisation as a workshop and program leader. These varied experiences have helped him to promote diversification in curricula, amplify marginalised voices and support wellbeing initiatives. Chris believes the arts are essential to positive social change and he has written and spoken about this in TES, The Voice newspaper and with the National Youth Theatre. His literary interests involve postcolonialism, modernism, lyricism and literature in translation. He is a dedicated lifelong learner and advocate for celebrating and promoting diversity.

Jo Heathcote is a highly experienced English teacher in Manchester, a senior examiner and the writer of numerous textbooks, resources and study guides for major educational publishers. She is a firm believer in a rich, varied and challenging English curriculum that is inclusive of the experiences and heritages of all her students.

Beth Kemp is a teacher and writer, with twenty years’ experience of teaching mostly post16 students. Beth has written and contributed to many English textbooks and study guides. In her teaching career, she has frequently worked with students experiencing different barriers and marginalisations. As a working-class woman with invisible disabilities, Beth has always been aware of gaps in representation and the power of an inclusive curriculum. Recently, her passion for diversity in literature has driven her to pursue doctoral research into young people’s perspectives on what they read.

Lucy Toop is a former English teacher, with a PhD in medieval literature. After teaching at university and then for 12 years in an inner-London secondary school, she now writes resources and assessment materials to support students and teachers from Key Stages 3 to 5. She is a governor at a south London primary school.

Thishani Wijesinghe has been teaching IB and A Level English for 14 years. She has taught internationally, as well as in the UK, and is currently head of English at a secondary school in Surrey. She is a member of NATE's Diversity in English working group.