Sue Pickford Cheung, whose novel Chinglish won best YA book in the 2020 Diverse Book Awards, was born Ying Yee Cheung in Nottingham in 1971.

Now in 2024, Maddy Yip's Guide to Holidays is on the shortlist for the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards.

Sue grew up in the colourful environment of a Chinese restaurant, scribbling her doodles on the edges of menus - an experience she drew on in Chinglish. She was given her English name to make it easier for the other children to remember.

At seventeen the doodling paid off when she won a scholarship to the London College of Fashion, which led, in a roundabout way, to a job as an art director in advertising.

Her dream, though, was to live by the sea and write and draw children's books. Which she now does.

Chinglish, is Sue's first novel. Featured on BBC Woman's Hour, BBC Breakfast, the Guardian and in The Big Issue, it won the Diverse Book Award for 2020. Set in a Chinese takeaway, it's a largely autobiographical, YA novel and is very, very funny.

Maddy Yip's Guide to Life is the first in Sue's new middle-grade series for younger readers. Described as 'hilarious' by the Guardian, both writing and illustrations are positively dripping with comedy. A second book in the series, Maddy Yip's Guide to Holidays, came out with Andersen in 2022.

Sue Cheung is represented by The Catchpole Agency.