Every author has the same ambition: for readers to become totally immersed in your book and connect with the cast of characters you’ve created, following their every step and then imagining their lives beyond the final page. Join award-winning author Piers Torday for this workshop dedicated entirely to the craft of creating complex characters that strike a chord with your intended readership, and insight into the art of developing character arcs.
This is an interactive workshop so numbers are limited to 40. The event will be recorded and will be available for one month for those who have purchased a ticket.
There are also two complementary places available for those for whom cost is a barrier. Please contact us for more information at scotland@britishscbwi.org
Delighted to be speaking at WOWCON, the annual, online conference for writers of children’s fiction that encapsulates our values of accessibility, affordability, community, and diversity
Writing about the natural world and the cost of human impact from authors who inspire change for our planet – a panel with me, Hannah Gold, Nicola Penfold and Alexandra Sheppard.
24th November to31st December . 7.30pm; Tues, Thur, Sat Matinees 2.30pm .
£13 – £36.50 full price / £10.50 – £32.50 concessions
Poop Poop!
A brand-new adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s much loved The Wind in the Willows by award winning children’s author Piers Torday (The Last Wild series) comes to Wilton’s this Christmas.
Set in modern-day London our story starts in Hyde Park during the spring time, with the adventure unfolding as it moves along the Thames and through the seasons, ending back at Mole’s home in time for Christmas and carols – but only if Toad Hall can be saved from the mysterious Chief Weasel and his ferret and stoat accomplices…
The Wind in the Willows Wilton’s is a fun, festive show for all the family, bringing up-to-date the Edwardian original with a playful wit and charm, with our heroes tackling modern-day climate issues (although Toad seems less keen), offering a tale of sustainable hope. There will be songs, puppetry and all the favourite characters will be there – Ratty, Mole, Badger, Toad and the Weasels. Not to mention a picnic or two…
Piers Torday triumphed with his previous adaptations of classic novels for Wilton’s: A Box of Delights, Christmas Carol and A Child in the Snow, this year teaming up with Director Elizabeth Freestone and Designer Tom Piper, with original songs by Piers Torday and Chris Warner, lighting by Zoe Spurr, movement by Emma Brunton and puppets by Samuel Wyer.
All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!
Creative Team Writer – Piers Torday
Director – Elizabeth Freestone
Designer – Tom Piper
Lighting Designer – Zoe Spurr
Composer and Sound Designer – Chris Warner
Movement Director – Emma Brunton
Puppetry Designer – Samuel Wyer
Casting Director – Helena Palmer
Assistant Director – Segen Yosef
Recommended age 5+
Responses to previous Wilton’s Christmas productions:
For Christmas Carol
“ Delightfully surprising and subversive”
★★★★ – The Guardian
“ Fantastic… incredibly well made”
★★★★ – The Sunday Times
“ A cracking piece of theatre… Wilton’s may have found itself a perennial crowd pleaser”
★★★★★ – What’s on Stage
And for The Box of Delights
“ The small enchantments keep coming and the setting is the genuinely magical Wilton’s”
★★★★ – The Sunday Times
“ I suspect this production is destined to become an enduring festive favourite”
The James Cropper Wainwright Prize is unveiling its shortlist on 28 July at Foyles Bookshop in central London, alongside a symposium to discuss issues around sustainability in publishing.
The prize, sponsored by James Cropper paper manufacturers, was set up to showcase the growing genre of nature writing in publishing and to celebrate and encourage exploration of the outdoors to all readers. It now has a third category, for children’s writing. Many titles championed by the prize have a strong environmental element, leading the sponsor to partner with BookBrunch and the authors on the shortlists to hold a short debate on the topic of sustainability in the book world ahead of the shortlist announcement.
Panellists for the event include Piers Torday, author and chair of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability Working Group; Amber Harrison from FOLDE Dorset, a new venture that is part nature-writing bookshop, part gallery with a strong environmental message; and Mark Cropper, chairman of sponsors James Cropper. The event will be chaired by Jo Henry of BookBrunch.
The event will provide a platform for all parts of the supply chain, from author to bookseller, to discuss the challenges, opportunities and ways in which the industry can build a more sustainable and resilient future. Participants will look not just at what’s already in hand but aim to come up with practical suggestions on how everyone can work to improve sustainability in the book industry.
Please join us for the third session of 2022 of the Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Group: Writing for a Change. There is no fee for attending these sessions, they are a gift to all writers to take away and use in their work. Special guests include Piers Torday, author of The Last Wild trilogy, and Gerry McGovern, author of World Wide Waste.
Lynn Buckle is a Deaf/hard-of-hearing author, artist, activist, and tutor. Her novel What Willow Says, published by époque press, won the international Barbellion Prize for ill and disabled authors in 2022. It is a celebration of deafness, nature, and the language of trees. Other work includes her debut novel The Groundsmen, several anthologies, and literary articles for The Irish Times and Books Ireland Magazine. She is the recipient of many literary awards, most recently as Ireland’s representative as a UNESCO City of Literature Writer in Residence 2021 at the UK National Centre for Writing. She is the judge of several writing competitions and founder of the IWC Climate Writers’ Group – part of the world-wide climate writers’ movement, working for a positive future, affecting change through fiction.
Gerry McGovern has published eight books. His latest, World Wide Waste published by Silver Beach in 2020, examines the impact digital technology has on the environment and what can be done about it. He developed Top Tasks, a research method which helps identify what truly matters to people. The Irish Times has described Gerry as one of five visionaries who have had a major impact on the development of the Web. Join Gerry for some practical advice on what we can do, as authors, to reduce our carbon footprint during the physical act of writing our books.
Delighted to be returning to this brilliant festival for an animated, interactive insight into how I became a writer, what inspires me and why he has returned to the Last Wild world for my latest book, and sequel to the series, The Wild Before.
Please especially note that ticket holders 11 years of age and under must be accompanied by an adult (who must also purchase a ticket unless otherwise indicated for specific events) in order to gain entry to a venue and to remain in the venue for the duration of the performance. The Festival reserves the right to refuse entry to unaccompanied ticket holders who are 11 years of age and under.
Piers Torday inspired a generation of readers with his best-selling, award-winning trilogy The Last Wild. Now, readers can re-enter that world with the stunning prequel novel The Wild Before. Piers explores the topical and timeless themes of his stories, combining environmental awareness, friendship and hope, in this captivating event.
Thrilled to be joining The Wealden Literary Festival this year for this special Wild Before event.
The Wild Before is a stunning prequel to Piers Torday’s award-winning, bestselling The Last Wild trilogy, touching on timely themes of climate change, friendship, and above all, hope.
One stormy, snowy night, a pure silver calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm by the light of the moon. This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time.
According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great terribleness will come -rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire, the end of all things… and Little Hare vows to persuade all the animals to protect Mooncalf, whatever the cost.
But it’s easier said than done, and soon Little Hare realises that he is the only one who can save the world…
Delighted to be taking part in the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2022. In this lecture I unpack the importance and function of stories in nurturing the development of children. I also delve into the creative process of writing stories with a purpose.
(This lecture can be attended as part of the Festival Pass or via a separate lecture ticket.)
To coincide with Earth Day 2022, CLPE is thrilled to be hosting a very special online panel discussion featuring three acclaimed children’s authors – Sita Brahmachari, Hannah Gold and Piers Torday – on climate change in children’s books. Drawing on their own novels, these authors will discuss how to tell stories that will lead the way to a better future, and inspire climate education in schools.
Hannah Gold: Hannah Gold worked in the film and magazine industries before taking time out to pursue her dream of writing. The Last Bear, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, is her middle-grade debut which became an instant classic and international bestseller on release in 2021. It was shortlisted for both the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize & the Blue Peter Book Awards, nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal as well as being The Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week.
Piers Torday: Piers began his career in theatre and then television as a producer and writer. His bestselling first book for children, The Last Wild, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award and nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal as well as numerous other awards.
Sita Brahmachari: Sita won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize with her debut Artichoke Hearts and is one of the most interesting and important voices in children’s books today. Tender Earth was awarded an honour by the International Board of Books for Young People, and her most recent novel, Where The River Runs Gold, published to great acclaim in July 2019.
