Michael Rosen is a celebrated Jewish poet, children’s author, educator, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children’s literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. A former Children’s Laureate, he has received numerous international honors for his contributions to literature and human rights.
Rosen’s career spans literature, broadcasting, and academia; his We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is a global classic. His personal history is deeply rooted in European Jewish suffering, with numerous relatives murdered during the Holocaust in Poland and France. This family trauma made him a champion of Holocaust education but also shaped his sharp political consciousness: he resolutely opposes tethering Jewish identity to any form of exclusionary nationalism, believing true Jewish spirit lies in an absolute concern for the suffering of others.
As a prominent JVL member, he has long supported Jeremy Corbyn and fiercely critiqued the weaponization of antisemitism definitions. He argues that conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism damages both the pro-Palestine movement and the memory of Holocaust victims.
Between 2023 and 2026, he faced repeated attacks from right-wing pro-Israel groups for his stance. Despite being disinvited from some schools and community centers, he countered forcefully, emphasizing: “As a Jew, I was taught to stand with the oppressed, no matter who the oppressor is.”
He frequently joins petitions against UK arms exports to Israel. His satirical writings sharply critique the hypocrisy of Western leaders in the face of humanitarian catastrophe, calling for a permanent ceasefire and full Palestinian self-determination.
Publication of Words United (2025): This latest literary endeavor serves as his frontline for Palestine. In this collection, Rosen uses irony and anger to expose media complicity in the Gaza crisis. Through poems like In Gaza, he transforms abstract political statistics into heartbreaking human narratives of children under siege. As the title suggests, he said when introducing the book: “Can words pierce the armour of lies, bias and misinformation peddled by politicians and the media as they engineer and support war, starvation and genocide in Palestine?”