LIBRARY NEWS
carnegie shadowing scheme Students from Brooke Weston won first, second and third prizes in a book quiz about the Carnegie/Greenaway awards. They, and counterparts from the three other Corby secondary schools, met up at Lodge Park to talk about their favourites and discuss which ones they thought would win the annual awards. Our students were split into teams with those from other schools for a wide-ranging discussion before they had a ‘book push’ where individuals
stood up and spoke on behalf of their favourite title. There was also a talk by a former judge on the Carnegie/ Greenaway panel and the book quiz where our students displayed their knowledge of the nominated works. Librarian Mrs Adams said: ‘Our students really enjoyed meeting those from the other schools and there was a lot of interaction between them all. The shadowing scheme is a really great way to read a wide range of books and debate their best
points. The students did really well to win the book quiz and we are grateful to Lodge Park for hosting the event.’
visit by author david callcutt David Calcutt, author of books, plays and poetry, talked to students about his writing career that has spanned the last 25 years. He spoke to both assemblies, led a writing workshop with the reading group and met with the whole of Year 8 answering questions and reading extracts of his work. He was first encouraged to write at secondary school when he had items published in the school magazine. Then he moved onto poetry and, when he became arts director at a community school, it was a natural progression to move into writing plays and novels. During the past five years, David has written five books; with Crowboy and Shadow Bringer already published and a third, Map of Marvels, scheduled for release next month. David said: ‘Writing was the one thing I could do well, I enjoyed making stories up. One in particular I wrote as a play and it didn’t
really work, the play form was too constraining so that became my first novel, Crowboy. ‘To be a writer you have to read. It sounds trite but it is true. If you are interested in writing then reading becomes more than just a leisure activity; it is part of your mental training. You have to read as widely and diversely as possible and see what it is possible to do with words. There are endless possibilities.
I do write every day when I am not doing workshops. I try and read aloud and consider all work is best performed or spoken aloud. All my books are completely different. Each time I write a new book I want it to be quite different, I’m not a series writer. Writing a book is like a journey and you quickly realise that the end of that journey is the start of another one.’
Manga Masterclass Manga artist Yuri Kore talked to students about her life and career during masterclass in the library. Students from most of the year groups attended and she gave advice on creative writing and drawing techniques. Librarian Mrs Adams said: ‘Her parents had a farm out in the country in Korea and although she always enjoyed drawing she never had any paper! It just wasn’t a priority for them. She always drew on any blank pages in books, and her parents told her off for spoiling them. When she was 12 her parents moved into a town and had a shop. ‘She was always still drawing and put one of her pictures on the shop wall. A customer told her how good it was and from then on she decided she wanted a career as a manga artist. She entered a competition and won, and her career
took off in Korea. ‘She later went travelling to India and met a man from the UK, moved here and started a family. She is determined to re-start her career and won a manga competition here. She has now translated her Korean books and started publishing new work.’ Student Marsha Green said: ‘It was extremely informative and highlighted the importance of dedication and practice in enhancing your skills.’ Laura Keeble added: ‘She was very helpful, giving us tips and tricks to improve our manga drawing abilities, and also really inspirational. I want to get writing my own manga now!’ -4-
World cup frenzy in the library The Library ran lots of football-themed competitions to tie in with the World Cup frenzy. Students wrote their own book and magazine reviews, did wordsearches and took part in a Big Football Quiz. Prizewinners were awarded with football or sports related memorabilia. Also popular was ‘Foul Play’ a WorldCup inspired story by Tom Palmer, which appeared in instalments each day of the competition with students able to link to it from our Library blog.