Today, acclaimed author Andy Mulligan visited the College to hold a workshop with Years 7 and 8. Year 8 boys read his popular novel Trash earlier in the year, and those in Year 7 will soon be reading Mulligan’s The Boy with Two Heads.
The day started with a talk from Mr Mulligan, who told the boys that inspiration, among other things, comes when a person is least expecting it. He went on to explain how the main character in The Boy with Two Heads was inspired by his 10-year-old next-door-neighbour, who would often come and ask for his football back after kicking it into Andy’s garden. This was just one example that he gave of turning reality into fiction.
Later in the day, pupils were asked to produce their own 500-word short story, based on the advice given by the award-winning writer. Year 7 pupil Freddie Teague said ‘I’m writing a story about a magician who is planning a show in a palace. It won’t be like a normal palace though, it will be very gothic and dark. It’ll be the type of palace where you could easily get lost. In the story, something will go wrong for the magician, that’ll be the plot-twist, but then he’ll find a way of solving it.’
After the boys had spent some time writing their short stories, Mr Mulligan read aloud Will Rider’s story, which was fantastic. Following his visit, Year 7 will all take part in BBC 2’s increasingly popular 500-word challenge.
