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4-year-old clinches book deal for his brilliant poetry

He's one of the youngest people ever to land a book deal!


boy reading
July 30, 2020
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Nadim Shamma-Sourgen is still learning to read and write, but that hasn't stopped him landing a book deal for his brilliant, beautiful poetry! The four-year-old dictates his poetry to his mum, Yasmin, who is a lecturer at the University of Reading. Nadim was discovered by poet and teacher, the Orwell-prize winner Kate Clanchy, who happened to be shown the poetry by his mum; Kate shared the poetry on Twitter and a book deal with Walker Books soon followed.

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Nadim told SkyNews that his favourite topic to write about is nature, but he also writes about his daily life, such as coming home from school and that he was "happy" that his poems will be in a book.

Walker Books executive Denise Johnstone-Burt commented: "The poems talk about such important feelings, like love and loneliness, and Nadim finds the perfect words. They are simple, inspirational and have a wisdom all of their own." 

The book deal makes Nadim one of the youngest writers ever to land a book deal; according to the Guinness World Records, the youngest commerciallly published author is Dorothy Straight, of Washington, USA, who wrote How the World Began in 1962, aged 4. It was published in August 1964 by Pantheon Books. 

Nadim's collection of poems is set for release next summer. Big congrats, Nadim!

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