Pete Johnson interview

F E Higgins interview

Lari Don interview

SPOOKY TUNES WITH JAMES MAYHEW
There are a few remaining tickets available for a children's concert which is being held int he Weston Lecture Theatre at The University of Hertfordshire at 3.30 pm on 8th November. Conductor Robin Browning and the de Havilland Philharmonic join children’s author and illustrator James Mayhew to present a special children’s concert which will be full of spine-tingling stories, spooky pictures and amazing music. The concert is presented by the University of Hertfordshire and the St Albans Children’s Book Group. Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for children.Booking and Informtion (http://www.herts.ac.uk/events/Childrens-Concert-Spooky-Tunes-with-James-Mayhew.cfm)

MCM EXPO
Last spring 30,000 teenagers packed into the ExCel centre for MCM Expo and this time the venue was even more crowded. The costumes were amazing; some of the visitors must have put a hundred hours into making their favourite manga or anime outfits, and it was great to see so many kids interested in books, comics and storytelling. While the show used to feature mainly Japanese animation and its spin-offs, the amount of tables manned by British indie creators has steadily been growing, thanks largely to the organisational skills of Emma Vieceli, artist on Manga Shakespeare titles 'Hamlet' and 'Much Ado about Nothing'. Garen Ewing had a stall selling his latest title with Egmont

CELEBRATING ADRIAN MITCHELL
It’s almost a year since Adrian Mitchell, poet, playwright, author and pacifist left this world. Friends and family gathered at the Tricycle Theatre in North London on Sunday 18th October to celebrate his life and work in a packed programme that reflected the man, his work and his passions. Sian Rowland attended for Write Away and sent this report.Perhaps best known for his poetry, Mitchell produced verse for adults and children that was funny, poignant and political by turn. His daughter Sasha led the songs and explained that her late father was a frustrated rock musician, hence much of his verse is set to music. After the ‘Snuff Around’ from his last anthology for childr

ON THE MEDIEVAL TRAIL
Sarah Matthias latest novel, Tom Fletcher and the Three Wise Men, was published at the end of September. To celebrate Catnip organised a walking tour of Medieval London on Thursday 1st October 2009. Anita Loughrey attended for Write Away and sent this report: We met at St Paul’s tube station and out guide Sue Jackson from London Walks took us on a fascinating tour starting at St Paul’s Cathedral. She explained how the plot of Sarah’s book linked with the various churches and historical sites that we visited. The tour included: At Paul’s Gateway, St Agnes church, the ruined abbey and rose garden with its magnificent watch tower, Newgate prison and the dungeon where th

SCHOOL LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR
The honour list for the School Librarian of Year was recently announced. The Award, created in 2004, aims to recognise the excellent work that is carried out in our school libraries every day: helping students learn how to learn, enthusing children and young people about books and reading and raising achievement. It highlights and spreads best practice and innovation through celebrating those whose work is outstanding. This year there are four exceptional school librarians on the SLA School Librarian of the Year Honour List. Lucy Bakewell - Hill West Primary School, Sutton Coldfield Barbara Band – The Emmbrook School, Wokingham Lynne Varley – Sponne Community Technology College