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Prize-winning author visits Millfield
Year 9 pupils from Millfield were treated to an engaging talk from an award-winning novelist last week.
Jason Wallace, who won the Costa Children's Book of the Year 2010 with his debut novel Out of Shadows, spoke about his fledgling career and his passion for writing.
The pupils, who had all read his book as part of their English studies, were fascinated to hear how Jason took his own experiences of a boarding school in Zimbabwe during the 1980s and transformed them into a gritty novel.
Out of Shadows received critical acclaim and became a bestseller before winning the award. Previous winners of the award include JK Rowling in 1999 for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
After growing-up in Zimbabwe, he attended university in England and was turned down by 100 publishers before his book was finally released.
He had a series of day-jobs and would spend hours every day writing on the commute to work and during his lunch-breaks.
Jason's talk gave his audience a very personal perspective on the early days of Robert Mugabe's regime, as well as revealing how he goes about writing and the things that interest him as an author.
After a series of interesting questions from the audience, Jason signed copies of his novel. Millfield head of English James Baddock said: "The pupils were gripped by Jason's novel and were excited to meet him and listen to him speak.
"They learnt a great deal about his life and were given tips on how to write a successful story. The young writers were inspired by Jason and a number of them are aiming to follow in his footsteps."
