Writing to help children save the world - Kathleen Jones
Someone once said to me, after a talk at a literary festival, ‘You’re so privileged to have a platform to reach people’. It took me by surprise because I hadn’t thought that being a writer would result in a moral responsibility to save the world! That being published was a privilege that might give rise to this kind of obligation hadn’t surfaced in my mind. I've thought about it quite a lot since then. As published authors, what we write is read by thousands of people whose lives we touch in unknown ways. That chance encounter with a reader made me aware not only that what I write can affect people’s lives, cheer them up, entertain, provide an escape route, but also that we do, as writers, have a unique opportunity to share experiences and ideas that might help and inspire people. I’ve recently paid another visit to the National Centre for Children’s Books - Seven Stories in Newcastle - where they currently have an exhibition of books designed to carry important mes...