Live Literature sails in to island primary school
Gigha school has been chosen to receive an author residency from the Scottish Book Trust
Author and illustrator John Fardell will work with Gigha Primary School on a specific creative project.
The Scottish Book Trust (SBT) announced nine schools will receive funded author residencies this academic year to inspire a lifelong love of reading and writing and support learning professionals with their practise.
The residencies will run across the 2018-19 terms and finish by Easter 2019. As well as an author residency, schools will receive a resources grant of £500.
The Live Literature School Residencies programme, now in its third year, is funded by Walter Scott Giving Group and delivered by the SBT, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing.
Schools across the country were invited to apply to the programme, which enables professional authors to build a relationship with pupils and engage them in a project. Each school taking part will receive 12 fully-funded residency sessions carried out by an author from the Scottish Book Trust’s author database. This directory includes almost 800 professional writers, poets, playwrights, illustrators, performance poets and storytellers.
Each school’s project will be showcased on the SBT’s website, alongside suggested learning resources and helpful tips to make the most of the residency sessions.
John Fardell is the author of children’s novels, including The Seven Professors of the Far North and The Secret of the Black Moon Moth. He also works as a freelance cartoonist, illustrator, designer and puppeteer.
John has won the Scottish Children’s Book Award twice, and in 2009 won the Royal Mail Children’s Book Award for Manfred the Baddie. He is married with two boys and lives in Edinburgh.
John said: ‘I’m very excited about being author-illustrator in residence at Gigha Primary School, and really honoured to have been asked. I’m greatly looking forward to travelling to Gigha and working with the pupils at this terrific school on their imaginative and creative ideas.’
Julie Wilson, head teacher at Gigha Primary School, said: ‘What a great gift to have John Fardell come and work with us to craft a series of tales from our isle of stories.
‘We are so excited for this opportunity to learn from him and be inspired through his residency to create and illustrate our own picture books on the themes of nature, growth and learning for sustainability.’
Marc Lambert, CEO of the Scottish Book Trust, added: ‘The Live Literature programme gives those in education settings the opportunity to collaborate with professional writers, storytellers and creators from all over Scotland.
‘We’re pleased to offer nine fully-funded residencies, which will help pupils to foster a love for reading and writing that can last a lifetime.’