Alan was born in Watford and went to university in Bangor, North Wales, where he studied English and Drama. He started working life in a travelling theatre company, visiting schools all over the country & writing much of their material. He says it was a useful apprenticeship - if the audience didn't like the play, they talked through it or threw bits of paper at the actors. He very quickly learned what children liked.
Alan later trained as a drama teacher at Nottingham University, but most of his work in connection with the theatre has been as a writer or director. Other jobs have included working as an editor and working in a day centre.
A keen football fan, Alan has supported Watford FC since childhood. Many of his stories have a football focus - which he rates as the next best thing to playing for England! He dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, but when he won a pen in a writing competition, his fate was sealed.
Alan has written over eighty children's books, which have been translated into many languages and won several awards. In 2010, Dirty Bertie: Loo! was winner of the Leicestershire Children's Book Prize. Alan also writes for TV, including the hugely popular 'Horrid Henry' on CITV.
