A former television writer now an award-winning children’s novelist and playwright, Piers’ offcuts include an attempt at a romantic novel, a social media status update about a bossy weevil, and a sitcom based on the unlikely topic of his early life growing up on a farm during the foot & mouth pandemic.   CAST: Kenny Blyth, David Monteath, Helen Goldwyn, David Lane Pusey   Piers Torday is a British writer whose work for children and the stage spans more than a decade. His debut novel, The Last Wild, was published in 2013, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and translated into 14 languages. It became the first in a series including The Dark Wild, winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 2014, The Wild Beyond in 2015, and the prequel The Wild Before in 2021. He has also written the standalone children’s novel There May Be A Castle, and his short fiction appears in collections such as Winter Magic, Return to Wonderland, and The Book of Hopes. More recently, he began a fantasy duology with Midnight Treasure in 2024, named Children’s Book of the Year by several national publications, to be followed by Wolf Crown, out next month (October 2025). Alongside his books, Torday has created a body of theatre work, adapting The Box of Delights for the stage in 2017 with subsequent revivals, writing A Christmas Carol with the first female Scrooge on the London stage, and The Child in the Snow based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s “The Old Nurse’s Tale.” His plays also include The Wind in the Willows at Wilton’s and Plum: a Homage to Happiness in 2025. In 2027, his stage adaptation of The Last Wild will open at the Unicorn Theatre before touring schools and venues nationwide. For more details about Piers, the offcuts and the actors performing them see the episode show notes:  offcutsdrawer.com/piers-torday  

The Offcuts Drawer - Successful Writers Share Their Best Worst Ideas

Speakable

Piers Torday - Children's Author & Playwright

SEP 6, 202551 MIN
The Offcuts Drawer - Successful Writers Share Their Best Worst Ideas

Piers Torday - Children's Author & Playwright

SEP 6, 202551 MIN

Description

A former television writer now an award-winning children’s novelist and playwright, Piers’ offcuts include an attempt at a romantic novel, a social media status update about a bossy weevil, and a sitcom based on the unlikely topic of his early life growing up on a farm during the foot & mouth pandemic.

 

offcutsdrawer.com/piers-torday