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Ali Sparkes is a children’s author who leads writing sessions for Junior and Young Writers every Saturday morning at MAST Mayflower Studios. To learn more about her, visit her website: https://www.alisparkes.com and click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/ali-sparkes

Susan L. Edser, MA graduate in Creative Writing and Publishing and winner of Bournemouth University’s prestigious Vice Chancellor Award 2024, is Ali’s assistant and writes the weekly blog. To learn more about her, click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/susan-l-edser

We had a change of venue today, back at the Mayflower Theatre. Sofas, free coffee, a drinks bar… Ali and Sue were delighted! Just kidding…

The session began with a Fill-in Fun activity about The Three Bears, to prepare the Junior Writers for a competition coming up soon. It is called the ‘Atom Learning Young Author Award 2025’, and the theme is to ‘fall into a story’. The child inserts themselves into a story and thinks about who they will meet, what happens and builds an exciting twist. The top prize is a family trip to Disneyland Paris, plus other prizes for the runners-up.

The group were asked to bring in their favourite book. Willow chose “Zoe’s Zoo Rescue” by Sophy Williams because the character can speak to animals. Milo chose “Kensuke’s Kingdom” by Michael Morpurgo because the author writes as the main character. Erifyli chose “Goosebumps” by R. L. Stine because she likes the idea that whatever is typed on the typewriter comes true.

They spent time thinking about how they could enter the story and what happened. Some fell asleep and woke up in a scene, while others knocked on a door and found themselves in it. They all used their imagination and began working on their competition entries. Ali encouraged them to continue the story in their own time and check the website for the competition details. Here’s the link: https://atomlearning.com/young-author-award?srsltid=AfmBOopHDR-Uo-u3qwV8nLgp5GITpvVgqDgr41Oam_nBn34iAZUSLgtA

The two ‘Writers of the Week’ were George, for good structure and Milo, for his good description. Well done, boys!

The second session of the day, for the Young Writers, focused on poetry. Sue and Ali chose twelve poems and displayed them around the room. The group were asked to read them and vote for their favourite one using a sticker. They chose the poems for various reasons, such as they were funny or made them think. The most popular, though, was ‘One Day at a Time’ by Lemn Sissay, because it was short, meaningful, and like a mantra for life.

Ali shared some information about forthcoming poetry competitions and gave general advice about poetry writing, such as it doesn’t have to rhyme or be a whole story. She suggested it could be funny, descriptive or emotional – or all three.

The Young Writers wrote maturely and confidently, which impressed both Ali and Sue. One, for example, was philosophical, and questioning everything, while another was touching, as it explored the lack of and desire for friends. Melina, though, won the Writer of the Week for her powerful and brilliantly structured poem about young love that takes a turn. She won the coveted sticker and the Edvard Munch ‘scream’ journal. Very well done, Melina!

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