Discover some Practical Magic

Award-winning children’s author David Almond will be casting a spell at a North East university next month, when he reveals the magic behind some of his fictional creations.

The Skellig author will give his talk, ‘Practical Magic, How do stories appear on the page?’ as part of the University of Sunderland’s Discover series. The talk is free and open to all and takes place at the Murray Library Lecture Theatre, Chester Road, on Thursday, May 8 from 7pm.

David Almond is an Honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Sunderland. He is twice winner of the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, and is one of only three UK authors to win the Hans Christian Anderson Award, considered the world’s most prestigious children’s literature award. His first novel Skellig also won the Carnegie Medal, and was adapted to film in 2009 starring Tim Roth. David is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and innovative children’s authors writing today, and his books are bestsellers all over the world, with sales of over one million copies.

“We are all creative and imaginative beings. Creativity is ordinary, human, down-to-earth, but in its spontaneity and unexpectedness, it is also a kind of magic,” says David.

“Creativity is not simply a mental process but involves the senses, the body, dreams, speculation – but also hard work and routine. A finished work (such as a book) appears to be perfect, but is the product of an imperfect, playful, messy process.

 “We are imperfect beings in an imperfect world. Imperfection is the root of all human creativity. A child once asked me (children ask the best questions!), ‘How do you turn the mess in your head into straight lines on the page?’ This talk will try to answer that question.”

The talk is free and open to all but must be booked via the University Online Store:http://onlinestore.sunderland.ac.uk, email events@sunderland.ac.uk, or call 0191 5153169.

David Almond will also be signing some of his most popular and acclaimed books including Skellig, My Name is Mina, The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas, Mouse Bird Snake Wolf and The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean. These books are available to pre-order from the University Online Store, and will be available for David Almond to sign on the evening of his talk.