The first reading and talk at a Junior School

I had always planned to arrange readings or talks at local schools – but hadn’t found the time. At least not until after my young nephew Jack took a copy of “The Knitter” into his junior school and suggested to his teacher that I could come along and give a talk during their “book week”. I hadn’t asked him to, but he was exactly what I needed to force me into doing something! The invitation came, and the reading happened this week!

Jack, and his big brother Ryan attend Elmlea Junior School in Bristol. It’s the kind of place that as soon as you walk into it you somehow know this is a good school. It has that kind of feeling to it.

My task was to place my future career on the line – and present the story of how The Knitter came about to the three Year 6 classes – around 20-25 in each class. I titled the talk “From a 16 line poem to a 330 page book”.

I decided to go for the full-on multi-media approach; powerpoint presentation, a couple of short readings from the book, and even playing the MP3 of my dad reading the poem “The Knitter”. I have to say the last one proved a big hit, but not only for the reasons I planned. I’d recommend to anyone the instant impact and acceptance gained when walking into a class full of 10/11 year olds with your B&W Zeppelin sound system under your arm! The cries of “Wow! He’s got a Zeppelin!” guarantees you get off to a flyer.

I was really pleased with the sessions in the end. You can take a look at – and download – the powerpoint here.

What surprised and pleased me most of all was the level of attention – and even more so the quality of questions from the children. Listening to an old Scotsman talking for 45 minutes is not necessarily going to be the first choice among children of that age to spend their time just before the holidays.  But any fears I had that my story might be more suitable for GCSE or A-Level students were quickly allayed when they fired off a whole series of fantastic  questions about the book, and shared their extensive knowledge of Mahatma Gandhi and the fundamental causes of light pollution!

The visit has convinced me that I should arrange as many school visits as I can. As interesting and occasionally daunting as a reading can be,  it’s not half as scary, nor anything like as rewarding, as telling your story to a classroom of young children – and walking out at the end of it thinking that maybe – just maybe – you just got someone to think “I could be a writer”.

If any teachers – or parents – reading this think their school might be interested in something similar, don’t hesitate – contact me!

Tagged as: knitter, launch, poems