Victor Headley is available for a variety of engagments including workshops, talks and residencies. The options are below:

Talks

The length and content of talks can vary according to the composition of the group. Victore Headley can speak to small or large groups as required. The following areas are usually covered, depending on what has been agreed beforehand with the organisers.

1. A talk about writing generally, Victors background and the books he's written, with personal anecdotes and selected readings and a question/answer session at the end. It helps if those in the audience have read some of victors work already but this is not essential.
2. A talk about storytelling and fiction and the power of words. There are also anecdotes and short readings and a chance for question/answer at the end.
3. A talk about how to write. This is not a workshop as such but a talk about the process of writing, how to generate ideas and how to develop critical awareness.

Workshops

Victor is available for both colleges and other adult groups. The approach varies according to the needs of the group involved. The workshops that I conducted in schools tend to be one of two types:

1. Victor can have one lesson with one class, one lesson with another and so on throughout the day. This gives more students exposure to the workshop but inevitably achieves less than the second type of workshop (see below) due to the time restrictions with each group. However, many schools request this so I have a short programme ready for such situations.
2. or victor can spend the entire period at the school with just one group of writers. This means he sees fewer students overall but the advantage is that those he does work with can make much more progress and achieve far more by the end.

Adult workshops tend to conform more to the latter type, i.e. I work with the same group for a reasonable period of time.

The exercises he give to the students, whether children or adults, vary, depending on what has been agreed with the organisers beforehand, but he will try to focus on helping students develop the two essential skills involved in writing: firstly, generating ideas, and secondly, improving critical ability. The latter, in my opinion, is almost always the weaker of the two areas, especially where young writers are concerned.

To discuss a possible visit, talk or workshop, please e-mail us we will also be happy to provide posters, showcards and other publicity material, and offer suggestions on how to market the event. They can also provide books for sale or return at discount prices.

For schools – how to make the most of an author's visit.

A few suggestions:

1. Make the author feel welcome. This may sound obvious but I have been to schools where this was not the case and it doesn't inspire you to want to go back!
2. Prepare the pupils beforehand. It's best if they have read some of the author's work already and/or debated it in class. If they have done display work, it's obviously a good idea to have that on show for the author to see. It also helps if they are primed with questions to ask.
3. Contact the publicity department of the publishers well in advance. They will send you showcards, posters and other material that will help you generate interest at the school.
4. Involve the local media. This will raise the profile of the school, get the kids excited and turn the visit into an event. Send a copy of any press reviews to the author afterwards.
5. If the school has its own magazine, get some of the pupils to conduct an interview with the author and publish it in the next issue. Send a copy to the author.
6. Get the pupils to surf the Internet for information on the author. If the author has a website, they should definitely visit this.
7. Arrange to have the author's books available for sale on the day and allocate time in which the pupils can buy them and have them signed. The publishers can provide books at discount prices on a sale or return basis and this is usually the cheapest option. It is also essential that pupils are reminded (more than once!) to bring money in on the day. A better system, to avoid disappointment, is for the school to pay for the books and get the money from the pupils afterwards.
8. Ensure that teachers are present at all sessions with the author.
9. Don't allow known troublemakers into the sessions. It's just not worth having them there. I realise that such pupils cannot be excluded from day-to-day lessons but an author's visit is a one-off event and to have the occasion ruined or soured by pupils known beforehand to be troublesome seems a waste of everyone's time.
10. If possible, pay the author promptly. That always goes down well!

Please also see the Teachers' Notes section for any book, or the General Teachers' Notes.

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