Cheltenham Literature Festival Visit

Posted: 18th October 2017

Student Report by Keenan Taylor

On Friday 13th October, eleven Sixth Form students (including myself) visited the Cheltenham Literature to participate in a Journalism and Publishing workshop. We arrived promptly – nine-forty sharp – eager to see what the day would hold. We sat in a tent named ‘The Nook’, joined by several other schools, and were greeted by Journalist, Phil Collins and Deputy Editor for the Times, Emma Tucker, who began to discuss the importance of journalism and the articulation of the paper. They also taught us the importance of loyalty toward their business and we discussed their competitors and why some sources may not be trusted. Scott Tizzard said: “Despite some bias towards The Times, it was an informative and interesting day.” Students were asked to organise items of news into categories and list them in order of importance; this activity led to discussion breaking-out across the venue and provided students with insight into how a typical day as a journalist panned out. It propelled my desire to be a journalist.

After a long lunch, students returned to The Nook this time we were greeted by members of the Oxford University Press whom came to discuss the process of publishing. The second workshop pushed students to get involved and had them creating a word copy, a front cover design and a PR event for a soon-to-be-published book, WALLS. Sammie Smith said: “It was really interesting and an interactive opportunity that allowed us to have more of an understanding into book publishing.” Attending the Literature Festival was an incredible experience that inspired students to enter the sphere of journalism and publishing, with student Tamsyn Lewis saying it made her “want to look into their fields of work.”

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