Manchester author, Louisa Reid, recently visited Saint Paul’s to talk to students about her books.
Writing about themes important to young people, and all people in general, Louisa is drawn to writing about themes of empowerment and personal freedom, including Black Heart Blue, and Lies Like Love. Louisa’s has written novels for young people in verse including Gloves Off, Wrecked and Activist, and loves the exhilarating, exciting challenges and opportunities that writing in this form brings.
Louisa’s latest work, Handle with Care, is a stunningly powerful novel for young adults written in prose and verse, and is due to publish imminently.
Louisa gave a fantastic talk about her path to becoming an author, where she gets her inspiration and the themes within her wonderful books. The students were particularly interested in the concept of a “verse novel” which has proved to be an effective way to communicate with young adults.
“Louisa connected well with the students and was a very engaging speaker,” said Mrs 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 students, and help them to improve their creative writing skills.”
“Louisa 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 Sharrock, English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. “Louisa’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!”