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I’m delighted to say that my books and author visits have had some very good feedback – here is a selection:
Successes, nominations and prizes
My books have been nominated, shortlisted or longlisted for: · The CILIP Carnegie Medal · The Branford Boase Award · The Cheshire Schools Book Award · The weRead Book Award · The audio book of The Midnight Charter was shortlisted for an “Audie” in the USA
And The Midnight Charter won the Birmingham Collegiate Book Factor - voted for by schoolchildren throughout Birmingham.
Over the last few years I’ve been engaged to lecture for the Society of Authors, presented various awards, talked to BookTrust’s The Letterbox Club, and addressed the national Youth Librarian Conference. I’ve appeared at Kate and Greg Mosse’s Chichester Writing Festival, and been a guest tutor at the Arvon Foundation. I’ve also done local radio interviews and video interviews for bookseller websites.
If you are considering asking me to visit and would like more references or endorsements, just contact me, I’d be glad to send you some!
Reviews of my books
“5 stars - Unmissable”
Books4 for Keeps
“A beautiful and compelling read, one of the most promising debuts in recent years”
Fantasy Book Review
"Not since I was eleven have I been so keen to get up to bed so as to carry on reading. The world Whitley has created is a little like a post-Christian rewrite of the Narnia books by Mervyn Peake and Robert Graves; fantastically atmospheric, ethically challenging and pleasingly ferocious."
Patrick Gale, author
“David Whitley’s innovative historical fantasy is a magical brew of imaginative story telling and intellectual depth.”
Paul Dowswell, author
See the individual book pages for more!
Feedback from my author visits “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
“Inspiring, dynamic and insightful. Fantastic range of material, imaginatively presented. Pupils enjoyed it enormously – and they were not the most obvious age group for the novels themselves – but the talk embraced a wide variety of interests and understanding.”
Rugby School, Warwickshire
The thanks are entirely ours! I can tell you I was very nervous about taking an event there but it was brilliant and really empowering to the new management who are trying to invigorate the reading culture! I can tell you I have been singing your praises to librarians everywhere - someone who can engage an audience of 300 + from Yr7 to 6th form! (Plus I think several of us would come to hear you sing!)
Barrs Hill School, Coventry
“Thank you so much for visiting us last week. It was a fantastic morning, and all our students thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well as learning an enormous amount in a short space of time. I’ve already spoken to some other school librarians in Hackney about your presentation, and I will pass your details on to them and to other librarians I’m in contact with. I will also be speaking to our English teachers about the possibility of you doing some creative writing workshops here.”
City Academy, Hackney
“The talk was brilliant from start to finish! I couldn’t quite believe that you had the whole of Year 7 listening attentively to you discussing Utopias! It really opened up their minds and teachers and students are still talking about your visit. We can’t recommend you highly enough and will pass on your name to other schools. Thank you for being so enthusiastic and passionate. A real inspiration!”
Ryburn Valley High School, West Yorkshire
“Thank you for a wonderful event. Our pupils had a fantastic time, and are inspired to keep reading... you really brought your characters to life! The game was a particular success”
Dormston School, Dudley
“All the students agreed that they enjoyed the humour, funny facts and voices in your presentation. The Reading Riots kids said that meeting an author has given them the confidence and motivation to write their own stories. The English staff appreciated the art and history references because it emphasised how fiction can be the basis of all forms of learning.”
Sir William Stainer School, Crewe
“Brilliant sessions. As well as being excellent for English, I have enthusiastic comments from RE and History teachers. Year 8 pupils took a lot away from the experience. Excellent”
Weaverham High School, Cheshire
“David was the most inspiring young author that I’ve come across for a while. His enthusiasm and quirky knowledge of life, but also children’s interests and learning experiences was put to the test by four different age groups and abilities. His inspiring “Dreams of Nowhere” workshop took our Key Stage 3 pupils to a world of bizarre historical past and gave an insight into David’s inspiration. His encouragement to express the art of writing made time fly swiftly – a wonderful experience!”
Hartford High School |
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Endorsements and Awards |
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Website and content © David Whitley - 2013 Author photographs by Gordon Ward Background parchment image from www.myfreetextures.com |