Hay Festival Scribblers Tour 2022

In February 2022, Hay Festival Scribblers Tour brought 5 authors to pupils aged 11-15 hosted in universities across Wales thanks to Welsh Government funding.

In these interactive events pupils built stories, asked questions and expressed themselves through the power of writing.

#ScribblersTour

Week 1 – 7–11 February 2022 – Years 7 & 8

Event 1 – Steven Camden

Steven Camden, aka Polarbear, is a poet, playwright and novelist who has performed and collaborated all over the world. This informal and interactive session will be a celebration of the stories and characters inside us all, as he shares his process of creating a world that the pupils will populate with voices, poems and more.

Event 2 – Kiran Millwood Hargrave

In this fun, interactive and engaging event you’ll learn about the inspiration behind Kiran’s stories and her incredible journey to becoming a writer. Her books for children and young adults include the bestselling The Girl of the Ink & Stars, The Island at the End of Everything, The Way Past Winter, Julia and the Shark, and The Deathless Girls. Kiran will also bring pupils on a creative writing adventure using myth, with a strong environmental theme, to create and explore new worlds.

Host – Meg Wassell

Our very own Meg Wassell hosts the first week of the Scribblers Tour. Think of her as your fun aunt crossed with a gameshow host.

Week 2 – 14–18 February 2022 – Years 9 & 10

Event 1 – Joseph Coelho

Join the performance poet and playwright as he presents The Girl Who Became a Tree. A story told in poems, it introduces a wide variety of poetic forms, skilfully crafted by Joseph to describe narratives and events. In this session he will share insights into how poetry is uniquely placed to tell stories and will work with pupils to create their own poems that can punch, kick and scream.

Event 2 – Manjeet Mann

Author and actor Manjeet grew up in a house where there were no books. She was put on the ‘slow readers’ table in junior school and in secondary school was told “not to get her hopes up” for her English GCSE. In this interactive workshop, Manjeet will use her own story to help liberate young people from their fears around writing and open up a space for creativity, while supporting them to find their unique storytelling voice.

Host – Jenny Valentine

Award-winning YA author and teen champion Jenny Valentine will be compèring the Scribblers Tour and encouraging pupils to find their own words to express ideas and creativity throughout the tour.

The Scribblers Newspaper 2022

Scribblers Tour Teaching Materials

The Scribblers Welsh Language events

Hay Festival Education