Debbie Thomas
- County
- Kildare
- Genre
- Children's Writer, Screenwriter
- Sessions
- Reading and Q&A, Discussion with Writer, Creative Writing Workshop
- Age Group
- 7 - 10, 11-15, 16 - 18
- Level
- Primary, Post Primary
- Languages
- Works in English ONLY
- Availability
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Mornings, Afternoons - Travel
- Yes
Publications/Repertoire/Productions & Background Experience
After training as a BBC radio journalist, I worked for ten years in Bangladesh and South Africa as a development journalist for aid agencies and newspapers. My work took me tea drinking with pygmies, interviewing prawn farmers and reporting on working conditions in garment factories. Now a children’s writer, I have published 3 comedy adventure books for 9-12 year-olds (Dead Hairy 2011, Jungle Tangle 2013 and Monkie Business 2014). My most recent book is Class Act 2015. I am passionate about encouraging confidence and creative thinking in young people. I believe everyone is uniquely creative, often in ways overlooked by the school curriculum. I travel nationwide promoting a love of reading and writing. I won the Little Tiger international Search for a Story award and have been a winner or runner up in 2 other international and 1 national competition. In 2013 I won the CD Lewis Literary Award, working with a school to produce a Handbook of Heroes.
Session Details
I offer 2 types of workshop: author visits, in which I discuss themes from my books, and creative writing sessions. In these I facilitate fun activities in a nonjudgmental environment to encourage original thinking based on the premise that, when it comes to creativity, there are no wrong answers. Exercises include turning words into characters, creating a story from everyday objects and imagining different viewpoints. My preferred age group is 8-12 for primary schools, and up to and including Transition Year in secondary schools.
Age Group Details
Primary school: 8-12 Secondary: up to and including Transition Year
Availability Details
I am very flexible and can work around being available most weekday mornings up to 1pm.
- Telephone
- 01-6270194, 085-1267712
- .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
- Website
- http://www.debbie-thomas.com/