I am represented by Molly Ker Hawn at The Bent Agency.
The Starlight Rebel
Published by Puffin books and lighting up the skies in July 2025 – PRE-ORDER IT HERE! (please and thank you)
In the future, the most underestimated person on the planet may be the only one who can save it.
The year is 3897, and life on Earth is a neon dream, all flashing lights and buzzy noise – and no one remembers that behind the illuminated shell above them there’s a night sky filled with stars.
As she turns 11, neurodivergent, freckled Astrifer Nova is nothing like her sporty, high-achieving twin brother, Blaze. And on the day of her Work Path Allocation ceremony which determines the course of her life, she is crushed when she gets assigned to the boring sock factory.
But all is not as it seems, and as she uncovers layers of hidden truths all around her, Astrifer discovers that the world is bigger than she ever imagined – and that it’s up to her and a motley crew of new friends (including one from very far away) to challenge the status quo. Turns out, their differences may be exactly what the planet needs…
Lights Up
Published by Puffin books July 2024 – ORDER IT HERE! (please and thank you)
Just like her favourite person in the whole world – her grandad – Hettie’s favourite place in the whole world – the Arts Centre – has gone. And Hettie can’t quite work out how she’s supposed to feel anything like how she did before.
Many years before, Jack is feeling lonely too. But his life changes when he’s taken in by a theatre troupe and learns the secrets of the mysterious people behind the acts.
And many years before that, Araine is also struggling, with a life that doesn’t look anything like she thought it would. A meagre existence where it seems like rich people, with their evenings out at the theatre, don’t have a thing to worry about.
When you’re feeling alone it can be hard to see the light.
But though they live years apart, Hettie, Jack and Araine are connected in ways they never imagined.
A magical story full of ghosts, theatre, love, friendship and family from disabled writer, activist, spoken word artist and theatre maker Lisette Auton.
Lisette’s debut, The Secret of Haven Point, was described by award-winning author Elle McNicoll as ‘A charming tale . . . with my favourite kind of hero at its heart’.
The Secret of Haven Point
Published by Puffin books February 2022 – ORDER IT HERE! (please and thank you)
“A charming tale of found families and mermaids, with my favourite kind of hero at its heart”
– Elle McNicoll, award-winning author of A Kind of Spark
A stunning literary adventure from an incredible debut talent, perfect for fans of Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Cerrie Burnell and Katherine Rundell.
I was Haven Point’s first Wreckling, but I certainly wasn’t the last. There are forty-two of us now, not including the mermaids. When you’re a Wreckling, you mainly spend your days squabbling, eating and planning adventures. Oh, and Wrecklings also carry out wreckings, which is how we got our name . . .
Washed up as a baby beside a remote lighthouse and raised by a mermaid, Alpha Lux was the first foundling at Haven Point. Now the lighthouse is a ramshackle home for any disabled person who needs somewhere to belong. Looting from passing ships to make a living, they call themselves the Wrecklings, and for the children of Haven Point life is spent adventuring on the wild shore (and getting into trouble with the grown-ups).
But when Alpha spots a strange light up on the headland, she realizes that her beloved family are in danger of being discovered by Outsiders.
With their home under threat, the Wrecklings must decide what kind of future they want . . . and what they’re willing to do to get it.
Shortlisted for the Adrien Prize, Stockton Children’s Book of the Year, Little Rebels Award, Diverse Book Awards, and The Week Junior Book Awards.
Download an extract from THE SECRET OF HAVEN POINT
The Stickleback Catchers
Published by Puffin books February 2023 – ORDER IT HERE! (please and thank you)
Mimi adores her wild, fun, full-of-life gran. Then Gran starts forgetting things. Suddenly there are cracks appearing all around their home – and a mysterious black crow – both of which only Mimi seems able to see.
Mimi is determined to solve the mystery. Luckily she has new friends to help: Titch and Nusrat. Together, they’re the Stickleback Catchers: solvers of puzzles and seekers of adventure.
Down by the river, where the gang meet and the silvery sticklebacks swim, they discover a mysterious stone, speckled with stars. But this is no ordinary stone: it’s the doorway to another world, a world of talking crows and secrets, magical constellations and memories – and maybe, just maybe, Mimi’s chance to bring back Gran forever…
Winning a hat trick of The Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week, The Observer Chapter Book of the Month, and one of The Guardian’s Children’s Books of the Year. As well as features in the Sunday Express, Northern Echo, Living North, and cover feature for Narc Magazine.
Read an exclusive extract from THE STICKLEBACK CATCHERS
Wintry Tales: Two Theatrical Adventures by Playwrights and Children aged 7-11
Published by Methuen Drama – Bloomsbury Publishing 2025 – ORDER IT HERE! (please and thank you)
Two plays made up of ten short stories that bring together the wild imaginations of school children with major writers from the North East of England. Based on the pioneering Live Tales creative writing model at Live Theatre in Newcastle, placing children’s authorship at the centre of the creative process, Wintry Tales offers a series of brilliant, alternative takes on the Christmas story.
A mysterious bout of snowfall in ASDA
A wizard detective with a love of hot chocolate
A lonely polar bear seeking another sharp-toothed friend
An elf kickstarting a worker’s revolution
Simple in form but deliciously rich in ideas, these explosive dramatic works can be performed by just two actors on either a packed or empty stage. It’s all about the words! And the outrageous ideas behind them…
The perfect book for anyone seeking an alternative Christmas offering, whether to read, perform or watch live onstage.
Rory Mullarkey is one of the UK’s leading playwrights with a major body of work that spans The National Theatre, The Globe, The Royal Court Theatre and beyond.
Lisette Auton is a hugely prominent disabled writer, and author of the major books for children The Secret of Haven Point, The Stickleback Catchers, and Lights Up.
Schools events
Lisette was very engaging. She had the pupils in the palm of her hand. It is one of the best creative writing sessions that I have seen.
I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of school children around the UK, on book tours, at festivals, with organisations such as The Scottish Book Trust, The National Literacy Trust, Southbank Centre and New Writing North, as well as visiting schools directly. I love delivering workshops and whole school assemblies about the wonderful world of words, my job as a writer, my books and my inspiration, for any ages. This can be a full or half day and includes a combination of your choosing from:
- School assembly – 45 mins -1 hour – an interactive presentation about my books, identity and
inspiration. Underrepresented voices. Why we need to write our stories. Includes us creating a story together and time for a Q&A session. - Book signing.
- Workshops with classes of any age, up to 35 pupils at a time. Options include wordplay, world building, identity, inspiration and activism. These can cover a mix of genres or focus on theatre/film, poetry, spoken word or story.
- Sessions with creative writing club or keen writers.
- Focus on SEN pupils.
- Focus on reluctant readers and writers.
- CPD for teachers.
Get in touch via my contact form for more details. Read more feedback about my sessions here.
Here are some more things about me (especially useful if I’m coming to you on a school visit and your pupils are doing some research!). . .
My name is Lisette Auton and I live in Darlington, which is in the North East of England. I’m a river lass from a sprawling family of sea folk.
I’m a white woman with freckles and brown hair of constantly changing length. I sometimes use a purple perspex stick. Or one of my other purple sticks. Or my customised book cover stick from Cool Crutches. One can never have too many…
My favourite biscuits are custard creams and I like to dip them into black decaf Co-op own brand tea. I have a literary rescue dog from the Dog’s Trust called Harper Lee. I love reading, sitting in sunbeams, growing new freckles, trying to change the world before nap-time, organising book shelves, the seaside, rivers and kindness.
I’m a disabled author, writer, activist, poet, novelist, spoken-word artist, actor, film & theatre-maker and creative practitioner; some say word-artist, I say I do stuff with words.
My debut middle grade novel THE SECRET OF HAVEN POINT and my second novel THE STICKLEBACK CATCHERS as well as my third novel LIGHTS UP from Puffin are available to buy or request in your library. I’m represented by Molly Ker Hawn at the Bent Agency. I was the 2019 Early Careers Fellow for Literature at Cove Park supported by the Fenton Arts Trust; winner of The Journal Culture Award 2021 for Performance of the Year for WRITING THE MISSING – A RIVER CYCLE commissioned by Durham Book Festival; and I’m on the TSS Publishing list of Best British & Irish Flash Fiction.
I’m an award-winning poet, widely published and known for my energised performances on the spoken word scene. I’ve performed at Northern Stage, ARC, The Southbank Centre and the Sage, in pubs, in a crypt, at festivals, indoors, outdoors, on a bridge and in a launderette.
As well as working solo with words in all their forms, I work with many creative collaborators to create unique and innovative cross artform works which have featured at MIMA, Kirkleatham Museum, Durham Book Festival and online.
I’m a creative practitioner. This is the most important part of my practice. To me this means working alongside people in whatever way they need to enable them to access the joy and power of words, to develop this and watch them soar. This takes on lots of different guises such as mentoring, leading workshops, developing programmes, creating work and dreams and ideas together, but at its heart for me is accessibility, listening, play, laughter, kindness, care, curiosity, wonder and time.
I use my platform as a writer, performer and practitioner to make the invisible visible, to Write the Missing.
I trained at Bretton Hall in Devised Performance and followed that up, many years later, with a MSc in Community Development and Youth Work at Teesside University, and then a 2 year course in Creative Leadership delivered by the School for Social Entrepreneurs and funded by Arts Council England. I have an enhanced DBS on the rolling update programme, and public liability insurance.
I identify as disabled. That’s a positive, powerful political word. There’s nowt wrong with me, but there is something wrong with a society which seeks to blame, shame, ignore, terrorise and disappear disabled people. I believe that although language and impairment needs can sometimes divide us, we are so much more powerful together.
The Puffin Book of Big Dreams
I was commissioned by Puffin to write a story for their 80th birthday anthology. It is a beautiful book full of incredible stories, some newly commissioned especially for this anthology, some from Puffins’ esteemed authors through its history, and some dreams from young people too. My story, THE GANG, is beautifully illustrated by Elisa Paganelli.
Published 3rd September 2020, you can order the book and find out more about the project HERE.
A FREE whole school assembly pack resource was created by Puffin to accompany my story and you can access it HERE.
Ink Flows
Ink Flows is the poetry collection I wrote when I was Poet-in-Residence for Crossing the Tees Book Festival, illustrated by the incredible Illustrator-in-Residence Sara Gibbeson. It is available now from Teesside libraries, Book Corner in Saltburn and 6e Publishing.
FIELD Notes
This publication to which I contribute came into being as a result of a residency held in July 2020.
You can buy a copy, or read it online for free, here.
Chemistry
I won a Creative Future Literary Award 2018 for my poem entitled And I Know, which is published in the anthology Chemistry, which is available to buy here.
Poems for a Pound
I make books, from recycled paper, leaflets, old cards & books, and photocopied found objects, and then turn them into instant books containing my poetry. I colour photocopy them and sell them at gigs as Poems for a Pound.
Lisette Auton Does Stuff With Words 