During their English lessons on Friday, our year 10s were ‘Zoom’ed across to Los Angeles, California where they were joined by author and screenwriter Simon Stephenson. Simon is the author of the acclaimed memoir “Let Not the Waves of the Sea” about the loss of his brother Dominic in the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
He recently published his first novel “Set My Heart to Five” about an android dentist’s search for romance and redemption through cinemas and road trips in the year 2054. The book is soon to be adapted for the screen by noted director Edgar Wright. Simon is also an acclaimed screenwriter himself having worked on the script of Paddington 2 and with the PIXAR animation studio.
Fortunately for our students, Simon’s favourite writer is John Steinbeck, author of our year 10 set text for IGCSE English Literature ‘Of Mice and Men’. During the call, Simon explored the background to the novel and the writing techniques which make Steinbeck such an important novelist. He answered some excellent questions from students and gave tips and advice for their upcoming empathic writing coursework based on Steinbeck’s novel and their creative writing generally.
Many thanks to Simon for giving up his evening to join us for this Zoom call. You can watch or listen to the call below and read some of Simon’s top writing tips too.
Click here to watch the video.
Click here to see Simon's writing tips.
