Ed Wicke
Author and Storyteller
http://www.blacknbluepress.info wickedtales@hotmail.com 07748 781 931
Available for
Workshop, Talk, Commission a bookAudiences
Age 5 to 7, Age 7 to 11Genres
Adventure, Comedy, Fable, Fairy tale, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical fiction, Humour, Legend, Magical realism, Mystery, Realistic fictionBook types
Fiction for childrenOrganisations
- Society for Storytelling
- Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Details
“The whole visit was a brilliant experience for our school.”
“A literary experience not to be missed.”
“The perfect way to engage reluctant readers.”
“Ed is a consummate story teller and his lively, madcap stories have universal appeal.”
“Some have even begun writing stories at home as a result.”
(Full references and copy of enhanced CRB provided to all schools)
I love visiting schools. It's great to see the children totally immersed in my stories, and then - even better - to hear them coming up with so many ideas of their own.
In my best year to date, I visited 26 primary schools, presented to 5,700 children and signed 4,500 books.
I have one major aim for all visits: the children should feel more excited about reading and writing after I've visited.
I have written sixteen books for 8-12 year olds. Eleven of these are novels, but what children love best are my books of crazy short stories: the Wicked Tales series (up to Wicked Tales Five now).
I mainly work with KS2 in primary schools, but I also provide separate KS1 sessions. Most schools want a session that combines lively storytelling with some ideas on reading and writing - usually with some imagination exercises built in.
I also provide creative writing workshops and powerpoint presentations of how I collaborate with my illustrators.
I can enthuse all children: well-behaved or the opposite; those from families that read and from families that don't; high-achieving or not. Schools tell me I have a big impact on boys and reluctant readers.
I HAVE TWO WAYS OF CHARGING. I have been a teacher and don't like using school literacy budgets that should be spent on books, so I prefer to earn my fee through sales. I usually don't charge at all for schools in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh, Hampshire or Berkshire: I sell enough books to make this unnecessary. Where the school is more than an hour away, we can either agree a flat fee based on the Society of Authors scale, or a greatly reduced fee subject to satisfactory arrangements for selling my books at the school.
I also make follow up visits to some schools and run projects with them (eg publishing a school's book of stories).
Books by Ed Wicke
I have written sixteen books so far, with more on the way! Some of them are adventure, some are fantasy, one is historical fiction, and there are five books full of wonderfully funny short stories, the Wicked Tales series.