Details
Hello and thank you for your interest in having me visit your school. I aim for every student to feel inspired and empowered during and after my visits. I believe books for young people are the most important in the world, so I don't take my position or the power of words lightly.
I offer interactive assembly-style talks of 45 mins to an hour, which include a book reading and Q&A. These can be paired with a creative writing workshop. I have workshops around original world-building and character development, as well as to explore the content of my books.
My debut title The Boy to Beat the Gods published with Usborne in 2024, and my next standalone Spirit Warriors publishes in August 2025. Being a history and mythology buff, my stories are often grounded in lore from my African and Caribbean heritage.
Having worked in publishing and broadcast journalism for the entirety of my career, I'm an experienced public speaker and creative writing lead. I'll be offering engaging talks for KS2 to KS3 about my love of stories in all forms including manga, video games and TV; using history/lore to create something brand new; creative writing workshops, book readings and interviews. I can deliver both in-person and online events.
What schools say
'Ashley draws upon his own relationship with reading and writing to build engaging narratives which have the children wanting more. His workshop allowed the children to see themselves as writers and to believe that they too have a story to tell.'
Mr J Duckett – Deputy Head and Year 5 – Newchurch Community Primary School, Warrington
'Utterly brilliant! Our pupils were incredibly lucky to spend the day with you.'
Miss E Nevell – Head of English – The Blue Coat School, Oldham
'Such a great author workshop. We loved hearing Ashley’s story about how he became an author and created the book. What an inspiring guy!'
Mr G Elswood – Head – St Chrysostoms C of E Primary, Manchester
'Ashley spent the day in our secondary school library doing creative writing workshops with Year 7 and our Creative Writing Club Students (KS3 and KS4). It was a wonderful day, and the students were totally inspired by him, his new book (The Boy to Beat the Gods) and the links with Manga/Anime. The writing tasks generated so many imaginative ideas and the work that the students produced was outstanding. We can’t wait to welcome Ashley back to our school again in the future.'
A Brookes – Learning and Cultural Resource Centre Manager – Manchester Enterprise Academy, Wythenshawe
'His knowledge of different genres matched the interests of many of our pupils and his understanding of things they already enjoyed kept them engaged throughout. He balanced this session with a mini workshop where he got them to start thinking about a world they would want to put their own character in. Thereafter, they started to think about qualities of literary characters that they have enjoyed and from that inspiration, they built their own hero for their world. Ashley had such a lovely way with our pupils, allowing them time for a Q&A session where no question was too difficult to answer. His natural ease, love of writing and knowledge of the process was such an enriching experience for us all.'
Mrs K Thompson – Years 6 and 7 – Castle Court School, Wimborne
