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Tuesday 6th May
Book Festival

Years 3, 4 & 5 non-fiction book making with John Malam (PHC) all day

John writes children's non-fiction books. An Ancient History and Archaeology graduate. He has excavated at sites in the UK, and headed the archaeology unit at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Shropshire. Thereafter, he worked as an editor for UK publishing companies before becoming a full-time author.

Many of John’s books are about history, especially topics covered by Key Stages 1 and 2 of the English National Curriculum (Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Tudors, and World War II). John says that writing these books helps to keep him in touch with his interest in archaeology, and he likes to include up-to-date or odd facts that other children’s books do not cover.

Years 12 & 13 creative writing workshops with David Armstrong (library) all day

Following a dismal school 'career', David read English at Cardiff in the 1970s and then taught at North Shropshire College for fifteen years. His first book, Night's Black Agents was published in 1993, and subsequently short-listed for the Crime Writers' Association 'Best First Crime Novel' award. It was described by Philip Oakes in the Literary Review as 'a tale of crime and punishment that Zola wouldn't disown...'. David has since published a further five crime novels. How Not to Write a Novel, a non-fiction title about the joys (few) and miseries (many) of being a writer, was published in 2003 and outsold all the novels put together. He has written features for The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard and Manchester Evening News, gives talks and writing workshops, 'reads' for a literary consultancy, and has taught on several Arvon Foundation courses.