Stratford Literary Festival inspires with author school visits

EVERYBODY loves a good story and the Stratford Literary Festival is one of the best ways to add sparkle to young minds and imaginations.

Pupils at Bishopton Primary School were treated to a day of colourful adventures when professional authors entertained children with amazing tales and vivid descriptions to bring literacy and numeracy into the classroom. It was just one of the record-breaking 29 school events in 17 different schools, both in Stratford, surrounding villages and even in Walsall which reached an estimated 2,000 children.

The festival had 13 authors featured during the week including Tony De Saulles, Catherine Johnson, Emma Carroll, Lucy Coats, Bruce Ingman, Jeremy Strong, Sophy Henn and Petr Horacek and three authors — Joseph Coehlo, Tracey Corderoy and Steve Antony.

Herald Arts caught up with the published author and illustrator Steve Antony at Bishopton Primary as he read Tim Minchin’s (of Matilda the Musical fame) When I Grow Up.

The pair have collaborated on several projects and Steve has written and illustrated scores of children’s books. He illustrated When I Grow Up so it was a particular pleasure for him to read the story in front of the school children at Bishopton.

He told pupils during a question and answer session that it can take ten seconds to think up an idea yet five months to write the actual book but the great news is that inspiration itself is never far away and can be found everywhere — if you look for it.

Among his many works he has written and illustrated The Queen’s Hat, the Mr Panda series, Betty Goes Bananas and Unplugged which he also read to Bishopton pupils.

“Books can have such a profound impact on a person’s life, they can take you to places you’ve never been before. I love to read because books aren’t boring and literary festivals are so important because they encourage everyone to read, and if you really want to know the answer to something, go to your local library where all the answers can be found,” Steve said.

Elsewhere the literary festival involved six Bedtime Story Parties held in schools where the children came along in pyjamas to share stories they wrote with their parents.

Tracey Corderoy — mentioned earlier — was also the ‘My Author Project’ author for 2018 and two schools, Alveston and Arden Fields in Henley, worked over a month around the themes of her books with Playbox Theatre and Escape Arts, and there was also creative writing projects with the author Christopher Edge.

Sophie Carter, head of literacy at Bishopton Primary, said: “The children at Bishopton had the most wonderful time with Steve and Tony De Saulles. It was absolutely brilliant.”

The award-winning author, Tracey Corderoy, said: “The Stratford Literary Festival has such a fun, fresh and creative approach to school events. As part of their ‘My Author’ initiative the festival enables authors to set the children off on an amazingly enriched journey spanning story, art, and drama. It has been thrilling to see how so many children have engaged with my characters and brought my stories to life after the festival made me this year’s ‘My Author’. Just brilliant!”

Annie Ashworth, festival director, said: “It has been a hugely successful week with tremendous feedback from the teachers and the children. We have been lucky enough to work with some inspiring authors and illustrators, and work with the children on creative writing. Our overall aim is to encourage reading and writing which has so many benefits, and to do it in a fun, accessible way.”

The Stratford Literary Festival starts on Sunday, for full details of all events, including the children's day, go to www.stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk