Authors Electric

Ann Evans, author visit at Sowe Valley Primary You can never start writing and publishing too early! A few months ago a local primary school got in touch to see if I would run an after school's club with the aim of producing a school magazine.  I imagine they invited me after a previous author school visit around World Book Day.  It was a  paying job, so I thought, why not? Although I only get paid for the hour I'm there – and not the hours I later discovered I was spending knocking the kids' work into shape. Still, it was enjoyable work. So, the fifteen children turned up at our Monday afternoon's after school magazine club at Sowe Valley Primary, and I admit it took me quite a few weeks to remember all the names. And the fact that it was children from all years made me wonder if it was going to be tricky working with multi age groups. It went from little Ellie in year 1 (aged 5) to Kayleigh in year 6 (aged 11). But oddly enough, it seems when it come...

Most of us have teachers who remain in our memories for one reason or another. I have two very different ones, who both had a powerful effect on my writing.             I was an only child, and my parents were the same age as everyone else’s grandparents. We moved house several times, too, so I frequently had to try and fit into a new school with some clear disadvantages. My father was Polish, so no one could pronounce my surname, let alone spell Krzewinski. He’d been a headmaster, and so had strong views on teaching, but no idea of the British education system. In Poland, teachers were revered and their word was law. And on the whole, if they were anything like my dad, they had the interests of the child at heart. I was also left-handed, which was still viewed as a bit odd, and I was small for my age which, with a July birthday, wasn’t ideal. In addition to all this I was particularly good at art and English, and hopeless at s...