The eagle-eyed among you who have been scouring the Manchester Children's Book Festival 'What's On' guide you may have noticed the enigmatically-named Generation MCR #Takeover event on July 2nd.
Generation MCR #Takeover is a KS3/4 project featuring award-winning author Alex Wheatle and working in collaboration with the Wordsmith Awards.
On Thursday 4th May at Z-Arts at 1pm, we will be launching this project with a fantastic event featuring Alex, though you can simply attend the event without taking up the offer of the extended project if you wish.
Alex's inspirational talk focuses on his own experience of growing up in care and getting into trouble as a teenager, before turning his life around after ending up in prison as a young man. His YA novels (suitable for KS3/4 - and KS3 mature readers) tell the story of youngsters growing up on a fictional inner-city London estate. Alex was one of the most inspirational authors taking part in the 2015 Manchester Children's Book Festival, when he encouraged many young people to focus on finding their talent and pick the right path in a very entertaining, sometimes funny, sometimes touching, way.
Selected school groups attending this event (those who qualify for GM Higher funding), may also be offered a free follow-on workshop led by Wordsmith practitioners, allowing pupils to explore the issues raised by Alex's talk and supporting them in developing their responses as performance poetry. These pupils will be invited to perform alongside Alex and poet Chris Jam at our Generation MCR #Takeover day on July 2nd, joining authors such as Curtis Jobling, Juno Dawson and Non Pratt for our free young adult festival day at Manchester Central Library. This is a free event and anyone can attend.
Those attending the Alex Wheatle event on 4th May can also take advantage of the opportunity to buy heavily subsidised copies of Alex's books, Liccle Bit and Crongton Knights. We want as many young people as possible to read these fantastic books and to join in our celebration of Manchester's young people.
This is a free event and anyone can attend. Tickets for Alex's event are on sale via the Z-Arts box office here. The event is suitable for pupils from Y6 through to post-16. The books feature 14 year old protagonists and Alex's talk and the books are suitable for all ages. This will really benefit KS3 and 4 pupils (12-16).
Don't miss our on this fantastic opportunity to take part. Put the date in your diaries and book you tickets now!
