The culmination of the 2014 First Story National Writing Competition sees a panel of award-winning authors discussing the idea of home. Where is "home" for them? How important are roots? And how does this influence their writing? This event will also include students reading pieces from the competition anthology.
James Dawson (@_jamesdawson) is the author of YA thrillers including Hollow Pike, Cruel Summer and Say Her Name, and non-fiction books Being a Boy and This Book is Gay. In 2014 James was voted ‘Queen of Teen’. He previously worked as a primary school teacher and is currently a writer-in-residence with First Story and School Role Model for the charity Stonewall.
Kate Kingsley (@KateKingsley) is the author of the YA series Young, Loaded & Fabulous and, most recently, a romantic novella for teens called Under the Mistletoe. She is currently a writer-in-residence with First Story.
Anthony McGowan (@anthony_mcgowan) is the author of adult, YA and children’s novels including The Knife that Killed Me, Hellbent and Henry Tumor, which won the 2006 Booktrust Teenage prize and the 2007 Catalyst Award. His most recent books are Brock, and Hello Darkness, currently nominated for the Carnegie Medal. The Knife that Killed Me has recently been made into a film. Anthony teaches creative writing at the Faber Academy, and at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Update, Monday 16 February: William Fiennes is no longer able to chair this event due to unforeseen circumstances.
First Story (@FirstStory) is a charity that aims to change lives through writing. It supports and inspires creativity, literacy and confidence in challenging UK secondary schools and their communities.
The First Story National Writing Competition 2014 is judged by Anthony McGowan, Bernardine Evaristo, James Dawson, Kate Kingsley and Laura Dockrill.
This event forms part of the LSE Literary Festival 2015.
Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSEFirstStory
Podcast
A podcast of this event is available to download from First Story: writing home
Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.