Author visits
We invited author Melvin Burgess to school followed by Martin Griffin to talk to our pupils and students from a couple of local state schools. The opportunity for literary work shops and talks was informative, educational and most enjoyable for all.
Aims
Author visits help to encourage reading and literacy. Melvin Burgess visited us on 18th November 2019 and we invited students from 4 local state schools to come to listen to his talk in the morning.
Martin Griffin visited on 2nd March 2020. 8 students and the literacy mentor from Meole Brace joined Martin for lunch and a tour of Shrewsbury School’s Ancient Library before joining Shrewsbury School third formers for an interactive talk about Martin’s writing process. Meole Brace students also participated in a creative writing workshop run by Martin Griffin.
Background
Melvin Burgess writes very popular hard-hitting novels which cover topics that particularly resonate with young people. He is an author who can reach even the most reluctant reader.
We invited Melvin Burgess to spend the day at Shrewsbury School and took the opportunity (after successfully broaching the subject with Shrewsbury Librarians) to open up a morning slot to local state students.
Martin Griffin was an English teacher, before he became a full-time writer and creative writing teacher. His young adult novels have exciting and accessible plots and have proven appeal with teenage boys. Martin Griffin was attending the school as part of our World Book Day celebrations. We extended an invitation to local state schools to hear Martin speak.
Resources
Our library staff were on hand to help with the day, as were staff members from visiting schools.
The talks were held in the Science Lecture Theatre. Martin Griffin’s creative writing workshop was held in the library.
The cost of both author visits was covered by the library budget.
Impact
Melvin Burgess
After the Melvin Burgess event students were asked to fill out a feedback questionnaire. The responses were collated in terms of evaluating the encouragement for reading and creative writing as well as to self-evaluate their attitudes to reading. Of 128 responses received, 72 said that after meeting Melvin Burgess, they were more likely to read his books and 67 said they were more likely to read books generally. When asked to rate the event out of ten, 101 students rated it 7 or above.
Feedback from visiting schools for both events was very positive.
Email from Hannah Edwards, Librarian at Priory School (who wasn’t there at the talk):
I've had great feedback from Mr. Stacey about the engagement … Thanks for all your personal efforts and also any other Shrewsbury School library staff. Events like these involve alot of work and preparation - many people sometimes do not realise quite how much! Keep us in mind should anything similar crop up.
On the day Mr Stacey commented how delighted he was that the students had been so engaged … they are a notoriously taciturn group, and they asked lots of questions. Prior to the talk they had said they didn’t want to purchase any books, on the day we sold 4 books.
Email from Amanda Keeling, Teacher of Reading at Meole Brace (who came with the students)
I just wanted to thank you, on behalf of Meole Brace Secondary School, for hosting the Melvin Burgess author event today. It was such an engaging talk and we all very much enjoyed the experience. Engaging our Year 9 boys with reading is always hard and their positive reaction and enjoyment was evident.
Thank you for making us so welcome.
Martin Griffin
Feedback from visiting students at Meole Brace:
“Kelsey [literacy mentor] came back glowing after such an inspiring workshop. Our students found Martin's strategies empowering and were energised by the experience - writing tips aplenty! We would like to thank you for your hospitality and Martin’s generous book donation to our library. Many thanks once again for inviting us along”.
Pupil Involvement
Both events were targeted at 14 year olds.
30 students and 3 staff from Meole Brace and 22 students and 2 staff from Priory joined us for the Melvin Burgess event.
8 students and one member of staff from Meole Brace joined us for the Martin Griffin event.
Frequency & Duration:
We usually have an author visit at school at least once a year.
Frequency
We hope to invite an author to school on an annual basis and continue to include local state school pupils.