Writing for Teenagers Conference

At the Writing for Teenagers Conference on Friday 8th March, students from nine visiting schools joined Leighton Park’s Year 9s for a day of interesting presentations and workshops with five renowned Young Adult (YA) authors.  Now in its fifth year, the event aims to encourage a love of reading in a range of genres in an age group who may be drifting away from reading for pleasure.

Our Patron of Reading, Julian Sedgwick, launched the proceedings with his presentation on graphic novels, including the upcoming ‘Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black’, co-written with his brother Marcus and illustrated by Alexis Deacon. Author and illustrator, Alexis Deacon, then went on to explain how his own journey into adulthood provided him with inspiration, including his experiences at university, leaving home and his first job.

Alexis discussed his career in both writing and illustration describing the challenges of writing from the point of view of a child. His work ranges from picture books like ‘Beegu’ to the first two titles of ‘Geis’, a trilogy of graphic novels.

Following this auspicious beginning, the Rising Stars Panel took to the stage, featuring some popular YA authors in the shape of Alice Broadway, Penny Joelson and Mel Darbon. This session was led by Leighton Park’s librarian Chris Routh, who asked each author to talk about the characters in their books and the worlds they inhabit, as well as the process involved in getting published for the first time and their plans for future publications.

Alice Broadway’s debut novel ‘Ink’ was one of the bestselling UK YA novels of 2017, telling the story of Leora and her quest to discover who her father really was after his death. Covering themes such as second chances and striving as a female in a male dominated world, the novel has been very popular with many of Alice’s fans at Leighton Park.

Penny Joelson’s YA novel ‘I have no secrets’ tells the story of fourteen year old Jemma suddenly confronted with a terrible secret that she is unable to reveal because of her disability. The book won five awards including the Children’s Book Award ‘Older Readers’ Category and Leeds, Sussex, Worcestershire and Cumbria regional awards.

Mel Darbon’s debut novel ‘Rosie Loves Jack’ was published by Usborne in September 2018 to a phenomenal response. The novel tells the story of Rosie, who will do anything to find the boy who makes the sun shine in her head – even running away from home. ‘Rosie Loves Jack’ explores society’s approach to Downs Syndrome.  An issue that Mel empathises with as her brother, who is autistic, inspired the character.

Workshops led by the authors followed where students were encouraged to consider characterisation. They discussed unusual characteristics, interesting names and creative backgrounds. Some student groups were also given image prompts or asked to role play characters. This was followed by an opportunity for all the students to share their experiences and the writing tips they had picked up, and to ask the authors a wide range of questions.

The last session of the day involved a presentation on The Excelsior Book Awards and a celebration of Stan Lee, creator of the Marvel Comics franchise who died last year. The Excelsior Award is the only nationwide book award for graphic novels and manga, where students aged between 9 and 18 decide the winner by rating the books they have read. Members of Leighton Park staff took it in turns to describe each title and why they thought it should win, using criteria such as plot, artwork, character and dialogue. We look forward to learning the results of the nationwide vote when they are announced in June.

Reflecting on the event, Leighton Park’s librarian and organiser of the conference, Chris Routh, said, “This year’s conference was particularly successful, offering a fascinating insight into the process of writing and publishing for young adults, as well as practical ideas and tips for budding young authors”.