Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 1941) is a British children's author and poet.
His writing career began when he began working as a poetry, fiction and children's book editor for Macmillan Publishers. He later become editorial director at Victor Gollancz. He is well-known for his poetry, novels, story collections, translations such as the classic Beowulf (1968, 1973, 1999) and reinterpretations of medieval legends such as his Arthur Trilogy. He also writes definitive collections of Norse myths (Viking!: Myths of Gods and Monsters) and British and Irish folk-tales (The Magic Lands: Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland). He has edited and translated the riddles from the Anglo-Saxon Exeter Book.
He has also written the libretti for two operas by Nicola LeFanu, The Green Children (1966) and The Wildman (1976), as well as a chamber opera about Nelson, Haydn and Emma Hamilton; and a stage play – The Wuffings (1999), as well as several collaborations with composers Sir Arthur Bliss and William Mathias.
He now lives on the North Norfolk coast, where he spent some of his childhood.
