Obligatory Post for Not Posting Enough – Children Save Dublin and other things

I know I haven’t posted in weeks and for that I apologise. But I honestly have been so busy since Children Save Dublin started in January that this is the first time I’ve had to write a new blog.

So as a lot of you will know by now, my book ‘Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent’ was chosen as the featured book in the first ever ‘Children Save Dublin’ reading campaign from Unesco. From January to March children in city were encouraged to read the book and engage with it through web games, discussion, acting, art and meeting me. There were so many highlights that I really wouldn’t be able to write them all down here!

I visited 25 schools, libraries and bookshops in Dublin and a further 10 around the country – nearly all in four weeks! I met hundreds of young readers, dozens of teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents. In that time, I answered countless questions, read from the book so much that I know certain passages by heart and signed a cramp-inducing number of books. I even got the pleasure of watching a play based on the first five chapters of the book! Read the rest of this entry »

Children Save Dublin

As I mentioned briefly in this earlier blog, my book has been chosen to be the featured book in the inaugural ‘Children Save Dublin’ reading project. The initiative has been established by UNESCO Dublin City of Literature – (the people behind the hugely successful ‘One City, One Book’ project) – and will run from today right up to the end of March. There are lots of events planned for the duration of the festival. I’ll be giving workshops in libraries, schools and bookshops and Michael Moylan of Irish History Live will be bringing his Viking History show to various locations around the city. The project culminates with a huge event as part of the St Patricks Festival. We’re going to have a train parked in Connolly Station, designed to look like the World Serpent itself. Each carriage will host a different fun event – (I’ll be there giving workshops and more!)

Read the rest of this entry »

Children Save Dublin – Photo Call

This morning I could be seen at Stephens Green for a photo call. Why, you ask. Well it for the launch of the UNESCO Dublin City Of Literature reading project “Children Save Dublin”, that is encouraging children between the ages of 8 and 13 to read my book. There will be some big events throughout and I will blog about it properly later but for now, here are a couple of images of a Viking with Arthur and Ash!

You can hear a report on Morning Ireland here

(A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped out today, especially all at Viking Splash Tour and Charlie & Zoe who made an excellent Arthur & Ash!)

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Antonia’s Bookstore book club 30/11/11

This is the first time I’ve met a book club who have read my book and it was a very fun experience. The members had some really great insights into the book, noticing the tiniest of things that even I hadn’t! They were full of questions, asking me to clarify certain parts or to give them hints for the rest of the series. A couple of them even took guesses about where the story would go… (I tried dodging these as much as possible!) Read the rest of this entry »

St Josephs Mercy Primary 30/11/11

A few weeks ago I got a missed call. When I listened back to the voicemail, it was from a teacher in Navan telling me how much her class had been enjoying ‘Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent’ and how excited they would be to have me visit. I, of course, promised that I would visit them and on the 30th of November I was true to my word.

Like the Hunt School, this was one of the first school visits where the class had read most of the book and had questions prepared. As soon as I was in the door, I was asked for a few high fives! After talking about the book and writing for a bit, I discovered that the class had drawn pictures based on their favourite scenes. (A few of them are below!) They had also studied the history of the Vikings and their myths in great detail. Read the rest of this entry »

Arthur Quinn Advent Calendar

Why not get in the Christmas mood with this Interactive Arthur Quinn Advent Calendar? Every day there’ll be a different video, download or game, giving further insight into the characters or just giving you a few seasonal smiles.

It begins Dec 1 (obviously) but you can check out the pretty snowscape in the mean time!

 


Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards 2011 – Report


It’s over a week since the Book Awards and I’m only getting around to writing about it now. (I’ve been in Berlin in the meantime!)

The night began by meeting my publisher Clodagh Feehan and fellow Mercier author Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc whose book Revolution was shortlisted in the Best Irish Published. We were all decked out in our black tie wear, ready for the night ahead. We got to the RDS just as the president, Michael D Higgins and guest of honour of the night, Seamus Heaney were arriving. So we got a really close view of them and had to crawl in the door with some of our fellow nominees minutes after.

(Above: Michael D and Seamus Heaney among others) Read the rest of this entry »

Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards

As some of you may have heard, my book ‘Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent’ has been shortlisted in the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards in the Best Children’s Book, Senior section. These are very prestigious awards and being shortlisted with my debut novel is a very exciting experience. My category has some strong competition. It’s all the best of Irish children’s writers; Three-time previous IBA winner Derek Landy, hugely bestselling author Darren Shan, Denise Deegan and Anna Carey. These awards are different from many others as the public get a say in choosing the winner as points are given based on both judges’ and public votes.

So, with that said, I’ll ask you to please vote for my book here. Everyone who votes is instantly put into a draw for a €100 Book Token, too!

 

(I feel I should also point out that there’s a great children’s writing competition on the site too. Check it out here!)