Salka: Lady of the Lake

Internationally bestselling British children's author Francesca Simon started writing stories from the age of eight. She has now written more than 60 books, including her first Horrid Henry book in 1994. Horrid Henry has gone on to conquer the globe; his adventures have been published in 27 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2009, in one of the proudest moments of her career, Simon was awarded a Gold Blue Peter badge. An opera written with composer Gavin Higgins, based on Simon's novel The Monstrous Child, premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2019. Her cantata The Faerie Bride, also written with Gavin Higgins, premiered at the Aldeburgh Music Festival in 2022. Simon was appointed MBE in the 2023 New Year Honours. She is a passionate ambassador for children’s literacy, a 500 Words judge, and is a former trustee of the World Book Day charity. In 2025 she published her first novel for adults, Salka: Lady of the Lake.

Iestyn Arwel is a Welsh actor based in London. His credits include Death Valley for BBC studios, The War Between the Land and the Sea for BBC and Disney, Burn, Burn, Burn on Netflix, and S4C’s 35 Awr and Merched Parchus. He has recorded audiobooks for Michael Morpurgo and David Baddiel, amongst others. The Oxford Mysteries is the second series of audiobooks he has narrated for Alis Hawkins.

Bilingual Welsh-English actress and voice artist, Hannah trained at the renowned Ivanna Chubbuck Studio and holds a BA in Acting from Trinity St David’s. Multi-award nominated, she has performed with National Theatre Wales, The Other Room, and Mercury Theatre Wales among others, and appeared on screen for the BBC, Afanti and Boom Cymru. As a voice artist, her clients include BBC Radio Drama, Audio Café, Goley Slater and M&C Saatchi. A versatile narrator, she brings depth, authenticity, and imagination to every story she tells.