Authors Electric

Julia's blog on Monday The Duck, the Hippo and the Goblin, moved me very much and I couldn't help sending in a comment about the extraordinary privilege that writers have to be able to work directly with their readers and perhaps help make a difference for them.  But when I thought deeper about Julia's account I felt that I couldn't possibly match anything so immediate, so direct, so possibly life-changing.  'Oh, you've only got mouldy old creative writing courses to talk about,' I thought and crept into a corner to mope. But not for long, 'What was so mouldy about them?' I thought.  The answer came.  'Nothing.'  I recalled the memories they brought, the extraordinary work the kids produced, beyond anything they -  or we - could have expected, the insights they expressed about the whole experience.  And I also keenly remembered the shared happiness, the feeling of common endeavour, however singular the work each child wrote.  So, not for t...