Meet the author

Ester Gaya.

Writer · United Kingdom

Ester Gaya: the Kew mycologist behind Fungarium and An A to Z of Fungi, whose beautiful, authoritative nature books make the strange world of mushrooms and mycelia irresistible to curious 8-12s.

Ester Gaya is a Spanish mycologist and senior research leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who has spent two decades studying fungi and is especially drawn to lichens. She writes children's non-fiction that carries real scientific authority without losing its sense of wonder. With Kew colleagues she contributed to the acclaimed large-format Fungarium, and she is the guiding voice of The Curator's Collection: An A to Z of Fungi, illustrated by Katie Scott, a smaller, jewel-like alphabetical tour of the fungal kingdom from familiar mushrooms to the vast underground webs of mycelia. Made in collaboration with Kew, it is a design-led, fact-rich book to pore over rather than race through. Gaya's writing suits nature-loving, museum-minded readers who like their science beautiful and precise.