As further evidence that I am in fact living in some sort of benign Truman Show, to cap my incredible book-year, I won the Northern Ireland Book Awards and then was awarded the role of Seamus Heaney Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland!

This two-year role was created by the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University Belfast and the Arts Council Northern Ireland to promote children’s reading and writing, and I think it’s a fantastic recognition of how important Kids’ Lit is. 

Settling into my new office!

The best part is I get to spend two years talking about creativity, hanging out with young writers, and working on my own writing as well! 

My big passion in life is working with teen writers and encouraging creativity so I’m really thrilled to announce the launch of my new blog The Blank Page. This is a blog that’s all about running creative writing clubs and I really hope it’ll be a support and resource for Librarians and Teachers and maybe inspire them to set up creative writing groups for their young writers.

The project is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and by the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University Belfast and I’m very grateful for their support for for this amazing opportunity!