How amazing my last week was!  I flew to Singapore for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC). Note the first time I have attended this wonderful event and, each time I go it gets bigger and better.

Here are some of the things I did:

1. Visited three schools (four sessions) to inspire kids (and their teachers) to play with words and poetry. The sessions were loud, energetic and, if I may so myself, amazing.
2. Presented live on the festival stage to classes visiting the festival in a session simply titled Poetry!  I performed poems from If I Could Eat the Stars and Right Way Down (including the title poem)  and made up poems on the spot using words, sounds, and lots of  audience input.
3. Presented a session called It Could Be Verse, for adult writers and readers, talking about the wonders of verse novels in general and the process behind The Riding Gallery and Worse Things.
4. Met readers of all ages in the festival bookstore and at the signing copy, where I was kept busy.
5. Most importantly, I listened to and learnt from authors, illustrators, publishers and more from around the world, including young readers themselves.

You can see a highlight reel of the event here:

Key takeaways:

1. Friends are the best! I caught up with friends from previous visits, friends from Australia, and new friends.
2. We shouldn’t just create FOR children, we need to create WITH them.
3. Young people are amazing. I already knew this but was freshly amazed by panellists as young as ten, and the insights gained from kids in my audiences.
4. You can never own too many books. I came home with lots of new treasures.

I could go on, but if you want to see more of what I did, I posted highlights over on Instagram each day.

I  LOVE LOVE LOVE getting to speak to audiences large or small and want to do more of it. If you need more poetry in your festival, school or other event, reach out via the contact form here, and let’s talk.