Author, screenwriter and lecturer, Danielle Jawando, recently visited Saint Paul’s to talk to students about her books.
Danielle’s debut novel, And the Stars Were Burning Brightly, won best senior novel in the Great Reads Award and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Young Adult Book Prize, the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize, the Branford Boase Award and was longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, the UKLA Book Awards and the Amazing Book Awards. Her other publications include When Our Worlds Collided, the non-fiction children’s book Maya Angelou (Little Guides to Great Lives), the short stories Paradise 703 (long-listed for the Finishing Line Press Award) and The Deerstalker (selected as one of six finalists for the We Need Diverse Books short story competition).
The author has also had several short plays performed in Manchester and London and has worked on Coronation Street as a storyline writer.
Danielle gave a fantastic interactive talk about her path to becoming an author, where she gets her inspiration and the themes within her wonderful books.
“Danielle connected well with the pupils and was a very engaging speaker,” said Mrs Irena Savova, Librarian. “She spoke to them about her journey as a writer, her writing, themes, books and the inspiration for her ideas. It was a brilliant workshop where she was able to engage with the pupils, and help them to improve their creative writing skills.”
“We are keen to convey the message that it doesn’t matter what you read, just so long as you read something which interests you. The more you read, the greater impact it will have on your life.”
“Danielle was able to inspire and encourage the students to read on a regular basis; they really enjoyed and appreciated their time with her,” commented Mr Jamie Sharrock, English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. “Danielle’s workshop was creative and engaging. She is an inspiring speaker and our students hugely benefitted from her visit to our school. They were enthused and inspired by what she shared with them about the life of an author, and asked some very interesting and thought-provoking questions. I am now looking forward to seeing how they transfer this learning into their creative writing!”
