Jennifer Killick’s Dread Wood was chosen as this year’s Bolton Children’s Fiction Award winner. Each year, children from Years 6 to 9 from across the region vote for their favourite title, chosen from six recently published works shortlisted by the library team at Bolton School.
Over 200 pupils from three local primary schools and eight secondary schools attended this year’s award ceremony, held in the Great Hall of the Boys’ Division at Bolton School. Having already read and reviewed the books and met the authors via Zoom, the audience, which also comprised book clubs, sat in eager anticipation of the announcement. Head Librarian Mrs Howarth compered the event, opening by saying: ‘This is always a very exciting day in which we count up the pupils’ votes. The benefits of reading are endless and today we are here to celebrate and promote a passion for stories.’ After praising the six shortlisted authors and all the other wonderful writers out there, she announced this year’s winner as Jennifer Killick’s Dread Wood. The author, who was in attendance, was presented with a leather bound copy of her book by Jacob Jones, an avid Year 8 reader from Bolton School, who had written an excellent review of her novel.
Taking to the podium, the author recapped her life, telling how she had always wanted to be a writer but that a schooldays shyness and lack of self-belief had held her back. While she studied English at university, it was only after she had done a few ‘boring jobs’ that she undertook a Masters in Creative Writing and decided to try and fulfil her ambition of becoming a writer. Jennifer told how she was first published in 2017 with her book Alex Sparrow and the Really Big Stink. She advised that an author’s work undergoes many rewrites and that it took six and a half years from penning her first novel to it being published. During this time, she said, it was only her stubbornness that stopped her from giving up on her dream. To date, she has written ten books and will shortly be releasing two more on the same day, 31 August – she even read a ‘world exclusive’ from one of them, a short story called The Pond, which will be included in the anthology, Read, Scream, Repeat. Her advice to the young audience was to ‘put the work in and have confidence in yourself.’
Jennifer talked about the power of stories and how books can get you through difficult times. She said that she hopes to make people feel better through her own writing. She also spoke about what inspires her and where she gets her ideas for her children’s horror stories, as well as about some of her own favourite books.
Jennifer then answered a wide range of thoughtful questions, including: Who do you base your characters on? What insect do you hate the most? Do your books gets translated? Did everyone think you would become an author? Which book, if you could, would you change?
Boys and girls from Devonshire Road, Hesketh House and Park Road primary schools, along with secondary school pupils from Canon Slade, Bolton St Catherine’s Academy, St Wilfrid’s C of E Academy, Parrenthorn High School, The Derby High School and Outwood Academy Hindley, as well as pupils from the Boys’ Division and Girls’ Division of Bolton School, then had an opportunity to meet the author, to have her sign books and, using Jennifer’s writing tips, to undertake a creative writing workshop.
One pupil, James from Canon Slade, said: ‘Today I went to the Bolton fiction awards 2023 and had the best time of my life. I loved that we were able to get our books signed by the author that won. I loved that they included interactive things that we were able to do; such as creating our own mythological creature, write our own metaphors and much more.’
Another pupil, Saif Karim from Bolton School, described Jennifer as being: ‘Even better than J K Rowling!’
The other five shortlisted books were The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery, Carnival of the Lost by Kieran Larwood, How I Saved the World in a Week by Polly Ho-Yen, The Last Bear by Hannah Gold and The Ship of Doom by M A Bennett.
Jennifer Killick delivered an engaging and interactive presentation to the appreciative young audience in Bolton School Boys' Division's Great Hall.
Head Librarian, Mrs Howarth, compered the event
Three brave pupils took to the stage to play Jennifer's 'Geek, Robot, Overlord' game.
