How Author Events Have Changed by Erika McGann
Many readers will identify with Erika McGann’s thoughts on author visits in schools and bookshops. It’s lovely for everyone to get a glimpse into the experience of the author.
How Author Events Have Changed
Erika McGann
I’ve been doing author events in schools and libraries since my first book was published in 2012. I remember being terribly nervous for my first event. It was in a cosy bookshop near my home, where all the booksellers were warm and friendly, but the prospect of spending an hour in front of a whole class of students was terrifying. I hadn’t been around school kids since I’d been in school myself. I had no idea what to expect.
I’m sure the children picked up on my nervousness, but I needn’t have worried. Far from feeling like a formal public speaking event, it was a relaxed and chatty session, and way more fun than I’d expected.
I’d come prepared with lots of visuals and activities to try and encourage interaction so I wouldn’t just be talking at the group for the duration, but from the outset it was clear that the kids were dying to join in. I opened by asking them for a few book recommendations, and straight away they were buzzing, hands in the air, delighted to talk about their favourite reads.
I’ve loved doing author events ever since. And, if anything, they’re getting even more fun as the years go on.
In the relatively short period that I’ve been visiting schools, classrooms have become more inclusive places. Children with different abilities are sharing space, and it seems to me that kids have grown more empathetic and considerate of each other as a result. They also appear to be more open about their feelings and less inclined to be guarded in their answers in front of their peers.
It’s something I’ve noticed particularly with boys. Books and toys for children are still marketed in very gendered and binary ways, but the divide was even greater when I started doing author events. In general, boys in my sessions read less often than girls, and were more reluctant to talk about books and how they felt
about them. They would never admit to reading a book which had a girl or woman protagonist, and were wary of picking up a book with a cover that seemed even slightly ‘girly’.
Whether because of popular books like The Hunger Games that became even bigger with movie adaptations, or because of changes in schools and society, there was a big shift a number of years ago. The first time I noticed it, it caught me completely off guard.
I was doing an event with a group of 8-9 year old boys. The series of books I read from for the session featured a cast of girls, which was something I downplayed a little whenever visiting an all-boys school so as not to put them off.
We were doing a fun book quiz to finish up, and I divided the class into two teams. When I asked them for team names, the first lot picked something like, ‘The Dragon-Slayers’. Then a boy on the second team put up his hand and said firmly, ‘The Elsas’. I froze for a second (no pun intended), quietly delighted and hoping there would be minimal teasing. There was none. Not only that, but the whole team nodded in agreement.
It might appear to be such a small thing – a group of boys naming their team after a female character – but for me it seemed to bridge a chasm I had seen in school groups up to then. And it continues to improve. These days, boys in my sessions read a larger variety of books (the wave of new graphic novels in particular has been fantastic for young readers of all genders), they’re more expressive and openly enthusiastic about what they read, and they seem less self-conscious in general.
When I think back to my earliest events, the change I’ve seen in classrooms since then is really encouraging and heart-warming. It’s a very positive change that I hope kids and teachers are feeling too.
Views expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups.
