Our blogs

Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

03 December 2022

Posted by Holly Spillar and Rohan Gotobed

Campfire Showcase

3rd December Junior Writers


Today was the first Junior Writers Showcase and we couldn’t be prouder of what everyone has created and achieved this term. Quite a lot of our juniors read their work to everyone for the first time, which can be really scary, but our readers were confident and seemed excited to tell their stories.


Unlike the older writers groups, who perform their work on stage to grown ups and friends sitting in the seating of the Sherling Theatre, I thought it might be fun to get a little creative (and cosy) and have the Junior Writers Showcase around a campfire in the center of the stage space. 


The simple campfire was made of card, tissue paper and fairy lights and was surrounded by the Ghost Hunters Tents, our young writers had decorated and covered in descriptive writing last week. The writers and their grownups sat on chairs, cushions and blankets behind their tents in a little circle around the fire. We even had marshmallows to roast while we settled into the showcase. 


We thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Alien Ghosts, Tooth Taker Fairies, Macaroni Monsters, Galacta Cats and a surprise eyeball hidden in a Zombie Letter! We had the perfect mixture of stories, descriptive writing, poems, character creations and even a play about Persephony, with lots of crazy characters performed live (with help from a cat).


On the way out our writers and their grownups got to do one last ghost hunt to find the spirit silhouettes covered in spooky writing made in one of our sessions.


Rohan and I have so enjoyed getting to know our new junior group this first term and can’t wait to see what amazing ideas are thought up in the future.




3rd December- Young Writers


Ghost Stories Live!


As the culmination of our project on scary stories, it was time to test them on an unsuspecting audience – namely, the Young Writers’ friends and family. Judging by the blanched faces, the flinching, and lots of loud applause, they were hugely successful.


In case you missed it, here’s our list of the different pieces and their writers:


Safir – “Sleep Little Sheep”


Neave – “Figment of My Mind”


Emma – “Schizophrenia” 


Ana Maria – “Stone Cold Summer”


Lola – “Sculpture”


Grace – “Sunday Mourning”


Jasper – “Walking” and “The Man Who Vanishes”


Annie, Jazz, and Izzy – “Function Room 4”


Annie – “The Haunting”


Jazz – “Wandering”


Izzy – “The Nightcrawler”


Annie, Lola, Jessica, Anna – “Mia Gets Revenge – A Grizzly Tale for Gruesome Kids”


Annabelle – “The Girl Who Was Never There”


Lila and Miriam – “Death” and an extract from “Riddell”


Anna – “The Room with No Windows”


Jessica – “Who’s There?”


Jacob – “P is for Plumb”


Lucas – “The Postbox Buster” 


Ana Maria, Jacob, Lucas, Neave – “The Bunny Man – A Grizzly Tale for Gruesome Kids”


Evie – “Day One of Ghost Diary (Mental Diary)”


Isla – “The King in the Bronzed Crown” 


Everyone – “The Haunted Lighthouse”


We still have two more weeks of term to explore pantomime and get into the Christmas spirit. 



PreviousNext

Archive

Back to blog

What's on

Find out more

Our projects

Find out more

Our films

Watch now

Headlight Press

Find out more

Latest news

03 September 2024

Newsletter - Autumn Part One

News and Opportunities for Writers and Writing*New Course* Writing as Spiritual PracticeHow do we talk about, and write about, that which is beyond language?...

Read more

Our blogs

Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

Find out more

Resources


Why not get in touch?