PATRICK HARDY (1936-1987) joined Constable Young Books as Grace Hogarth’s assistant, where he succeeded Grace as Editor. Constable Young Books then became Longman Young Books and from there Patrick transferred, with his list, to Penguin, where he founded Kestrel Books. Between 1982 and 1985 he ran his own company, maintaining the high standards he had always set himself.
November 1989 saw the very first inaugural Patrick Hardy Lecture, given in the form of a dialogue between Jill Paton Walsh and John Rowe Townsend. These series of lectures have continued, occurring annually, with honoured speakers from the world of children’s books such as Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz and Meg Rosoff.
PREVIOUS SPEAKERS
2017 Elizabeth Laird
Find a Story, Live a Story, Tell a Story
2016 Jo Hanks and Thomas Merrington
Beatrix Potter at 150: Keeping Her Legacy Alive
2015 Lauren St John
In Defence of Childhood Freedoms
2014 Juno Dawson
Books About Us
2013 Lauren Child
Worry No. 1: Infinity
2012 Marion Lloyd
Throwing Off the Invisibility Cloak
2011 Jonathan Stroud
The F Word: Writing Fantasy for Children
2010 Cathy Cassidy
It's Not Enough to Write A Brilliant Book
2009 Jeremy Strong
A Week in The Day of Myself
2008 Verna Wilkins
The Right to Be Seen
2007 Michael Rosen
The Bigger Picture
2006 Meg Rosoff
Why Would Any Sane Adult Read Children's Books
2005 Anthony Horowitz
The Need for Adventure
2004 Michael Morpurgo
We Are What We Read
2003 David Almond
The Echoing Darkness: Thoughts on Writing for the Young
2002 Anne Fine
So Many Books, So Little Time
2001 David Fickling
Narrative Heaven – The Editor’s Tale
2000 Jacqueline Wilson
Not in Front of the Children
1999 Quentin Blake
The True Story of the Unidentical Twins
