Elizabeth Laird was born in New Zealand and moved to England with her family when she was three. She went to school in Croydon, studied languages at Bristol and then Edinburgh University, and taught English in Malaysia, Ethiopia and India. She has written many books for children, including Kiss the Dust (winner of the Children's Book Award), Secret Friends (nominated for the Carnegie Medal) and The Garbage King (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal). She lives with her husband in Surrey.