Gerard Benson was born in London and lives in Bradford, where he was made the city's poet laureate in 2008. His children's books have won the Signal Award and been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. A Good Time is his fourth collection for grownups, along with a number of anthologies, including the Poems on the Underground series, of which he is a founding editor. He was the first ever poet-in-residence at the Wordsworth Trust, and is a popular reader and tutor.