Sophie McKenzie launches Split Second in Croydon!

Author Sophie McKenzie  will be at Selsdon Library on Thursday 19th September from 4.30 – 5.30pm.

She will be discussing her new book, Split Second, due to be released on 12th September.

“Bound together by the devastating consequences of a terrorist attack on a London market, teenagers Charlotte (Charlie) and Nat appear at first to have much in common.  But, as Charlie gets closer to Nat and his family, she begins to wonder if perhaps he knows more about the attack than he has let on.  Split Second is an action-packed thriller that shifts between the perspectives of its two main characters as their courage and their loyalties are tested to the limit.”

Waterstones will also be attending and selling copies of Sophie’s book and she will be signing these copies. The cost of these books is yet to be confirmed but we will put this up as soon as we hear.

The event is aimed at young people aged 10-19.

You can watch a trailer made for the release of the book here:

If you would like to attend you can do so by phoning 020 8726 6900 or email  selsdon@croydon.gov.uk

If you want to follow Sophie on Twitter you can find her at @SophieMcKenzie_.

There is lots of information about this and her other books on her website.

You can even download a sample chapter of Split Second http://www.sophiemckenziebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Split-Second-prologue.pdf.

And of course you can borrow one of her other books from any Croydon library. You’ll find a full list HERE.

We hope to see you there!

You can download the poster to display HERE.

A Discussion on Sherlock

On Saturday 29th June, Ashburton library will be holding a session where teenagers (11-19 years of age) can meet up to talk about all things related to Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, including books, films and TV shows.

The poster to advertise the event is below, containing all of the details, and there is a link to a PDF version here.

Please do feel free to come along if you are interested!

Sanderstead Young Writers Group

The weekend is coming, and so is the second Sanderstead YWG! Come along to meet new people and do some creative writing. All meetings are from 3-4pm. The future dates are as follows:

Saturday 15th September 2012

Saturday 13th October 2012

Saturday 10th November 2012

Saturday 8th December 2012

Saturday 5th January 2013

Saturday 2nd February 2013

Saturday 2nd March 2013

Saturday 30th March 2013

Saturday 27th April 2013

MyVoice Word Fest #Croydon

On Saturday 17th November, an event will be held at the Croydon Central Library/Clocktower from 10.30-4.00pm.

There will be at least four workshops of which people will be able to choose two to do. The workshops we are considering so far are: Creative Writing Workshop (possibly on a gothic/romantic theme and including looking at different writers styles and how to write for genres), Manga Workshop, Hip Hop Shakespeare workshop and a Street Dance workshop. These are still to be decided.

The plan is that there will be stalls for people to look at while they are waiting for or between workshops. For example, some of the possibilities we are considering are publishers, authors, book shops, Croydon College, careers advice, nail art, graffiti wall, library information, join the library, book swap and a book give-away. We also hope to have an ongoing art/craft activity that people can drop in and out of.

We have already held a Word Fest meeting at Croydon Central Library to get these initial ideas together, but there is so much more to plan! This is part of the Reading Agency, MyVoice Project in Croydon and anyone aged 11-19 is welcome to get involved.

If you can think of anything else or would like to get your ideas across, come to the Word Fest planning meeting on the 8th September in Ashburton Library. The meeting will be held at 2.30pm. We will also be discussing ways we will publicise the event, and design ideas for logos, etc.

If you can’t make the meeting but have ideas to share, add them to this blog and we will take them along!

It is helpful if you can let Liz, the librarian in charge, know that you are coming to the planning meeting so that she can plan for numbers and refreshments. Email her at myvoice@croydon.gov.uk.

We hope to see you there!

Click on the link below to download the official poster. Display it and help spread the word!
word fest planning meeting poster

MyVoice – get involved!

Croydon Central Library held its first MyVoice planning meeting this past Tuesday, allowing 11-19 year olds to really get involved in their local libraries and contribute to the planning of future events. In this meeting, we discussed a few ideas for the upcoming Word Fest (though this name might be changed, as there may be some activities to do with art, etc.)

Some of the ideas people were keen on are listed below:
Manga Workshop
Creative Writing Workshop
Stalls – a number of stalls from publishers/book stores/agencies that support young people
‘What’s Croydon Reading?’ feature in Croydon Advertiser/Croydon Radio
The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company workshopStreet Dance Workshop
Football match reporting
Authors – Workshop? Reading? Debate?
Broadcasting Book Reviews
Reverse the Riots Campaign

It’s not too late to get involved!
If you would like to join us in planning these activities, you can contact Fiona Tarn at Croydon Central Library or email MyVoice@croydon.gov.uk

We will keep you updated with the plans for future MyVoice workshops and events for the Word Fest, on this blog. Feel free to suggest your ideas to us here or on Twitter and get involved.

It would be great if other MyVoice groups could share ideas and activities that were particularly successful.

Croydon Radio and author Diane Messidoro promote MyVoice event at Croydon Central Library

Yesterday, on Croydon Radio, new host Janet Smith interviewed the author Diane Messidoro about her new book, How to Keep a Boy as a Pet, as well as answering people’s questions about writing and talking about libraries in general.

We would like to say a big thank you to Janet Smith for picking up on our post and for reading out the details of Word Fest at Croydon Central Library! to Croydon on her programme.

We found the whole interview very interesting, and the interview can be relistened to here, under ‘The Croydon Arts Show – Extra, on Sat Aug 4th at 11:00 UK’. It is definitely worth a listen.

If you’d like to hear the promotion of MyVoiceUK and the thoughts of Diane Messidoro on the benefit of libraries you can listen at 28 minute in, or click on the audioboo below, made with kind permission from the team at Croydon Radio.

 

Olympic Writing events in Croydon Libraries

Here are a whole list of dates for the August 2012 Olympic-themed creative writing sessions in Croydon. These sessions are for ages 10 – 16. Book now!

PLEASE NOTE: We have found some of the dates advertised on the council website and on posters are wrong. Please check with the library to confirm dates and let us know of you find any other errrors so we can update the blog.  Thank you. 

Ashburton Library
Monday 13th
2.30 – 3.30
(Shirley Road, Croydon, CR9 7AL)

Bradmore Green Library
Friday 17th
4.00 – 5.00
(Bradmore Way, Coulsdon, CR5 1PE)

Broad Green Library
Friday 24th
3.00 – 4.00
(89 Canterbury Road, Croydon, CR0 3HH)

Croydon Central Library
Saturday 11th
2.30 – 3.30
(Katharine Street, Croydon, CR9 1ET)

Coulsdon Library
Thursday 23rd
2.30 – 3.30
(Brighton Road, Coulsdon, CR5 2NH)

New Addington Library
Saturday 18th
2.30 – 3.30
(Central Parade, New Addington, CR0 0JB)

Norbury Library
Thursday 23rd
2.00 – 3.00
(Beatrice Avenue, Norbury, SW16 4UW)

Purley Library
Thursday 2nd
3.00 – 4.00
(Banstead Road, Purley, CR8 3YH)

Sanderstead Library
Saturday 4th NOW Tuesday 7th (see comment below)
3.00 – 4.00
(Farmfields, South Croydon, CR2 0HL)

Selsdon Library
Tuesday 7th  NOW Saturday 4th
2.30 – 3.30
(Addington Road, Selsdon, CR2 8LA)

Shirley Library
Thursday 23rd
4.30 – 5.30
(Wickham Road/Hartland Way, Shirley, CR0 8BH)

South Norwood Library
Saturday 11th
3.00 – 4.00
(Lawrence Road, South Norwood, SE25 5AA)

Thornton Heath Library
Monday 13th
3.00 – 4.00
(Brigstock Road, Thornton Heath, CR7 7JB)

Places are limited to 15 people per session. Book your free place at your local library now!

Croydon Libraries Aug 2012 creative-wrting-sessions poster

Word Fest at Croydon Central Library!

Croydon Central Library will be holding its first MyVoice planning meeting on Tuesday 7th August at 2pm. This is a great chance for young people to get more involved in their local libraries and plan future events to be held there.

MyVoice is a Reading Agency project for children aged 11-19, and welcomes new people to come along. It is already running in Ashburton and Thornton Heath libraries in Croydon.

It would be really helpful to phone in advance so the library knows how many people are coming, but this is not necessary if it is a last minute decision. You can just turn up for this initial planning session to get ideas for creating a Word Fest to be held later this year.

If you are unsure you might like to check out details of what MyVoice has been doing in other Croydon libraries here.

We hope to see lots of people on the 7th!

Ask for Liz or Fiona when you turn up, or drop them an email atMyVoice@croydon.gov.uk

Teen Writing Group back to Saturdays

We are very pleased to say that the monthly Sanderstead library’s Young Writer’s Group has returned to the original Saturday slot after a year of the dates, days and times being shifted around and various staff running it before moving on elsewhere.

Sanderstead Writing Group

It’s finally back on a Saturday, which was the original time agreed by all the teenagers who attended over a year ago, before the changes started. The last move was to a Wednesday, which no-one could attend.

It’s really good that it is back to a day which the group can attend. The next meeting is on 21st July, the first weekend of the holidays, and there are no forward dates as it relies heavily a member of the library staff being able to run it. As soon as we know the dates from September onwards, we will post them here.

Are you able to come along? Have you attended before? What do you enjoy most about these events?

If you know of any events for children or teens in any other Croydon libraries, let us know. We’d be happy to add it to this site.