Scallywag delivers Lamb's debut collection with Riddell to illustrate

Scallywag Press has acquired a "wise, warm and witty" debut poetry collection from Scottish poet, performer and storyteller Simon Lamb, to be illustrated by former children’s laureate Chris Riddell.

Publisher Sarah Pakenham acquired world all-language rights for the text directly from Lamb. Illustration rights were acquired via Philippa Milnes-Smith at the Soho Agency.

The currently untitled collection will be published in hardback in autumn 2022, with a paperback to follow. It will be suitable for ages "seven to 107" and feature 50 poems consisting of 50 words. 

Lamb won the Robert Burns World Federation’s international poetry competition in 2021. His most recent commission was for the post-lockdown reopening of the Edinburgh Playhouse to celebrate the return of live theatre to its stage and commemorating the building’s 90-year history as a place of entertainment.