Forrester High School in Edinburgh has been chosen to receive an author residency from Scottish Book Trust. Author Victoria Williamson will work with the school on a specific creative project.
Scottish Book Trust has announced the nine schools who will receive fully-funded author residencies this school year to inspire a lifelong love of reading and writing and support learning professionals with their practice. The residencies will run across the 2018-19 school year and finish by Easter 2019. As well as an author residency, schools will receive a resources grant of £500, as well as an invitation to an induction day.
The Live Literature School Residency Programme, now in its third year, is funded by Walter Scott Giving Group and delivered by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing.
Schools across the country were invited to apply to the programme, which enables professional authors to build a relationship with pupils and engage them in a project. Each school taking part in the programme will receive 12 fully-funded residency sessions carried out by an author from Scottish Book Trust’s author database. This directory includes almost 800 professional writers, poets, playwrights, illustrators, performance poets and storytellers.
Each school’s project will be showcased on Scottish Book Trust’s website, alongside suggested learning resources and helpful tips to make the most of the residency sessions.
Victoria Williamson has worked as a science teacher and teacher trainer in Cameroon and Malawi, an English as a foreign language teacher in China, and as a special needs teacher in the UK. She writes with a particular focus on creating diverse characters reflecting the many cultural backgrounds and special needs she has encountered, both as a teacher and as a volunteer.
Victoria’s experiences with teaching young children in a deprived area, many of whom were asylum seekers, inspired her first novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of redemption and unlikely friendship between Glasgow bad girl Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema.
Victoria Williamson said: “I’m really looking forward to working with the pupils and teachers of Forrester High School on our creative writing project. Scottish Book Trust’s Live Literature scheme is a great opportunity for schools and authors to work collaboratively on a shared project, and I’m thrilled to be part of it this year.”
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “The Live Literature programme gives those in education settings the opportunity to collaborate with professional writers, storytellers and creators from all over Scotland. We’re pleased to offer nine fully-funded residencies, which will help pupils to foster a love for reading and writing that can last a lifetime.”
The full list of schools receiving fully-funded author residencies are:
· Gigha Primary School, Argyll and Bute
· Loudoun Academy, East Ayrshire
· Forrester High School, Edinburgh
· Kirkcaldy High School, Fife
· Annette Street Primary, Glasgow
· Smithycroft Secondary School, Glasgow
· All Saints Primary, Inverclyde
· Cumbrae Primary, North Ayrshire
· Spittal Primary, South Lanarkshire
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