Up-and-coming novelist visits Christ’s Hospital

Christ’s Hospital Year 10 pupils had the chance to work with up-and-coming young adult novelist Tanya Byrne in their English lessons on 9 November.
Tanya Byrne visits Christ's Hospital. Picture by Toby PhillipsTanya Byrne visits Christ's Hospital. Picture by Toby Phillips
Tanya Byrne visits Christ's Hospital. Picture by Toby Phillips

Tanya spoke to a packed house in the Riches Lecture Theatre at CH about her writing career so far and her two highly-praised novels Heart-Shaped Bruise and Follow Me Down.

Pupils were particularly interested in the second of these, in which the main character is a Nigerian girl who comes to attend a traditional English boarding school.

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Head of English at Christ’s Hospital, Stephen Walsh said: “Tanya was able to offer invaluable tips about writing short stories – she underlined the age-old rule of ‘show don’t tell’ but also illustrated by reading her own work how a writer creates a narrative voice and a sense of place.

“The pupils will be able to apply these lessons immediately as stories set in Tanya’s fictional boarding school are required for the English Department’s Year 10 Short Story Competition this year.”

Tanya has kindly agreed to judge the best stories and as in previous years the work of every Year 10 student will be gathered into a collaborative work to be entitled ‘Telling Tales Out of School’.