Selina Brown author page

Selina Brown biography

Selina Brown is a British children’s author, marketing consultant and event producer. Before establishing her publishing and literary work, she worked in marketing, events and community engagement, including roles connected with MTV, the BBC and Freud Communications. She also founded Little Miss Creative, an organisation delivering development programmes for girls in UK schools.

Brown began publishing her own work before securing a two-book deal with Penguin Random House Children’s UK. Her earlier children’s books include the Nena picture-book series, including Nena: The Green Juice. In 2025, Puffin published My Rice is Best, illustrated by Maxwell A. Oginni. The picture book follows school friends Shane and Yinka, who each believe their favourite rice dish is the best, using their friendly disagreement to explore food, friendship and cultural identity.

Brown is also the founder and CEO of the Black British Book Festival, which she established in 2021. The festival has developed into a year-round organisation working with publishers, schools, libraries and emerging writers, alongside its annual literary event. Its projects have included community libraries, school programmes and initiatives supporting Black British authors.

My Rice is Best was shortlisted for the Illustrated Books category of the 2026 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and for Children’s Non-Fiction and Illustrated Book of the Year at the 2026 British Book Awards. Brown’s next Puffin picture book, Soup Bowl Hunt, is again illustrated by Maxwell A. Oginni and is scheduled for publication in March 2027.

In March 2026, Brown received The Queen’s Reading Room Medal as its National Reading Hero, recognising her work through the Black British Book Festival and associated reading and community initiatives.