Matt Killeen has had many careers but kept coming back to writing. He has made a living as an advertising copywriter and creative, a music and sports journalist, and all-round wordsmith for hire. He fulfilled a childhood ambition by becoming a writer for the LEGO® company in 2010, and continues to create LEGO licensed books for Ameet Publishing. Now a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, he also teaches creative writing and works for PC Gamer and GamesRadar.
A graduate of Canterbury Christ Church University’s Radio, Film & Television Department, he has an MA in Creative Writing for Young People from MMU. There he specialised in the works of Russell Hoban and how they reflect upon the Holocaust and other genocides, the theory and creation of Graphic Novels and the varying definitions of YA literature.
His US Bestselling debut Orphan Monster Spy was the result of a lifetime’s horrified fascination with the Second World War. It tells the story of Sarah, a Jewish German girl who is orphaned in an escape attempt in 1939 who comes to work for a British spy undercover in a school for the daughters of elite Nazis. It was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards and the Branford Boase Award, as well as winning the 2019 SCBWI Crystal Kite. It forms the basis of his work with schools around the world on the dangers of fascism, as well as the moral complexity of war and resistance.
The sequel, Devil Darling Spy, continues Sarah’s journey, and discusses imperialism and racism. It was published in spring 2020, just as the world ended.