Manjeet Mann

Manjeet Mann is an actress and writer. Her novel The Crossing won the 2022 Costa Book Award for Children's Book.

Early life

Mann grew up in a working class family in Walsall. She studied performing arts at Coventry University.

Career

Mann started her career as an actress before turning her hand to writing.

Mann's first novel, Run Rebel, was released in 2020 and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and received the Shadowers’ Choice Award for Carnegie Medal and the UKLA Book Award for Ages 11–14 ; it was shortlisted for and won several other awards. She later adapted the novel into a play, directed by Tessa Walker and produced by Pilot Theatre. [1] The play was nominated for two Off West End Theatre Awards in 2025, for best production, which it won, and Creation for Mann. Her second novel, The Crossing, was published in 2021. It won the 2021 Costa Book Award for Children's Book and was shortlisted for numerous other awards including the Carnegie Medal.

Mann later published two children's picture books. The first, Small's Big Dream, illustrated by Amanda Quartey, was published in 2022, and the second, Whirly Twirly Me, also illustrated by Amanda Quartey, was published in summer 2023.