Wes Magee

Wesley Leonard Johnston Magee (20 July 1939 – 21 October 2021) was a British poet and children's author.

Life and career
Magee was born in Greenock, Scotland, on 20 July 1939.

Wes taught at Penhill & Park North Junior Schools in Swindon, before taking up a teaching post in Hertfordshire.

He published six collections of poetry for adults, and more than 90 books for children including poetry, fiction, plays, picture books, and anthologies. One of his most well known works is the poem "Windows". Poems for children featured in the Cbeebies series Poetry Pie. Magee performed poetry shows in schools around the UK, as well as Germany, the Isle of Man and Guernsey. He was also a visiting professor at Rollins College, Florida, and Kuwait.

Magee was married to Janet Parkhouse Together they had two children He lived in the hamlet of Thorgill, on the North York Moors. He died on 21 October 2021, at the age of 82.

Awards and accolades

 * Urban Gorilla, a collection for adults, won the New Poets Award in 1972.
 * The Blackstaff Collection No Man's Land was a recommendation of the Poetry Book Society in 1978.
 * The Very Best of Wes Magee, a selection of poems for children, won the Award of the Children's Poetry Bookshelf in 2002.