Shakespeare Week 2017

Most of last week was spent in libraries around Sheffield, celebrating Shakespeare Week. I visited Chapeltown  on Monday, and then I hopped on a tram and a bus to Stocksbridge on Tuesday, finishing off (until Ecclesall next week) at the Central Children’s Library on Wednesday. And I was met at each of them by a sellout crowd of terrific young writers (and illustrators). We talked about Shakespeare and (my favourite bit about him) was the range of things he wrote about and the range of characters in them: love stories, tragedies, monsters, fairies, kings and queens and witches…

 

 

And we wrote. We wrote a lot and it was brilliant. And we illustrated too – as you’ll see, there are some really fantastic cauldrons and potions and spells…

Massive thanks for everyone’s help – to mums and dads and brilliant library people. It was a brilliant few days, brilliant to see some familiar faces, brilliant to meet new people but, best of all, it was brilliant seeing so many young writers having fun writing.

 

 

New Story for Comic Relief

 

It’s Comic Relief THIS Friday, which is good because they do all the good things they can to try to get us all closer to a world without poverty and that’s something that’s hugely important to me.

And to help, the wonderful Ash and Peter at Flash: The International Short-Short Story Press have put out today a collection of very short and, mostly, very funny short-stories.

It’s called Funny Bone.

There is a story of mine in it called Dump and I can’t tell you much about it other than, despite all the work I’ve been doing in schools recently, it really isn’t for children. And it’s very short.

And there are loads of other great writers in there with me. (I’m not saying I’m a great writer, of course.)

And you can buy a copy here. I know I don’t need to tell you what a really, really important cause this is. Go on, help it.

 

 

World Book Day

 

I’m a little late in blogging this because, true to form, I’ve been here, there and everywhere, and writing too. And scanning. There has been lots of scanning.

I’ve worked at Summer Lane Primary in Barnsley a couple of times now and it’s always delightful and it was a delight to be invited back for World Book Day. There were some amazing ideas and some wonderful things written and it’s always such a good thing to see everyone, teachers, staff – the whole school – enthusiastic about stories and books and writing. A huge thank you to them for that, and their support – especially the brilliant Mr McDougall, and a bigger one to the young writers there who, again, did brilliant things. It was an absolute pleasure.

 

Shakespeare in Sheffield

It’s Shakespeare week next week, which is brilliant and to celebrate it I’lll be running a series of after school workshops in Sheffield for young writers (7 years old and upwards) where we’ll be having fun with words, making up our own stories and poems, and getting to know a little bit about Shakespeare and his work (and possibly finding out that we already know it).

 

Monday 20th March – Chapeltown Library 4 – 5:30 (click for website.)

Tuesday 21st March – Stocksbridge Library 3:30 – 5:30 (click for website.)

Wednesday 22nd March – Children’s Central Library 5:30 – 6:30 (click for website.)

Places are limited so if you’d like to come along then drop the relevant library a line. We had a genuinely amazing time last year doing this, and lots of fun, and I can’t wait to start again.

Vote, Cupid!

Thrilled to hear that my very short story, Cupid and Me, has been nominated for Ink, Sweat and Tears’ Pick of the Month for February. It’s actually extra pleasing considering how little I’ve been publishing over this past year or so (I’ve been writing, of course, just not really sending much stuff out there).

 

So, go HERE to read all the nominees (they’re brilliant) and, if you could spare a couple of seconds to vote for your favourite, then that would be splendid.