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About Joseph
Originally from Bristol, Joseph studied English Literature and Drama at the University of Manchester, before doing an MA in performance at Central School of Speech and Drama.
For the last fifteen years, he has worked as an actor, predominantly in comedy and children’s television. He is best known for playing pirate ‘Cook’ in the BAFTA-winning CBeebies series, Swashbuckle, for which he also wrote many of the scripts.
In 2020, he co-created, wrote and starred in Big Fat Like, a comedy sketch show commissioned by the BBC, which parodies the bizarre world of YouTube. He is also part of the writing teams for The Amelia Gething Complex, Class Dismissed, Kidz Bop, and Horrible Histories.
His award-winning debut novel, The Good Hawk, was released in 2020, followed by the sequels,
The Broken Raven, and The Burning Swift. He has been a guest author for Popshot Magazine, and his short story, Bag For Life, was published in The Book of Hopes, which was shortlisted for Children's Book of the Year at the 2021 British Book Awards. In 2023, Bag For Life was adapted for screen by Reckless kid Films. Joseph's new comedy for 8-12 year-olds, Nora and the Map of Mayhem will be followed by the much-anticipated sequel Nora and the Compass of Chaos in May 2025. It can be pre-ordered here.
When not writing or acting, Joseph loves painting, pottery, snorkelling and playing board games. He is a firm believer that houmous goes well with everything.
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Children with special educational needs have always been a part of Joseph’s life. His mother is a primary school teacher specialising in SEN and, as a young child, his parents provided respite foster care for children with additional needs. One of Joseph’s first jobs was working in a holiday playscheme for children with learning difficulties and disabilities, and he then went on to work as a teaching assistant at Westminster Special Schools for over four years. Agatha, the heroine in The Good Hawk, was inspired by some of the incredible children he worked with during that time, particularly those with Down syndrome.
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