On 17th April we were delighted to welcome acclaimed author Louis De Bernieres to Norwich School for the afternoon, with a talk held in Norwich Cathedral and a Q&A session with young writers from across the county. Pupils from Norwich School Fifth Form were also joined by 120 pupils from 7 local state schools for the discussion, which focused on creative writing in preparation for their upcoming GCSE English exams. Louis read excerpts from his novels along with passages from some of his favorite authors and pupils took part in creating their own written responses to a stimulus.
During the talk the writer gave some useful writing tasks for the pupils, such as trying to write in a style that imitates another writer, writing in different tenses and changing the grammatical person. His most important advice was for the pupils to read as much as they can as often as they can to broaden their understanding of written language and widen their repertoire. Many pupils were keen to ask questions over refreshments afterwards.
Our thanks go to Louis for an engaging and memorable session and the pupils and staff from Acle Academy, Alderman Peel School, Framingham Earl School, Marshland High School, Ormiston Victory Academy, Jane Austen College and Stalham High School who all attended.
