Author Visit
Some of our Students had the opportunity to hear from visiting author Bali Rai at the end of a week of celebrations for KSA’s Book Week.
Some of our Students had the opportunity to heard from visiting author Bali Rai at the end of a week of celebrations for KSA’s Book Week.
Leicester born author, Bali Rai spent the day at the academy on Friday and spoke with three groups of students about being an author and he read extracts from his novels, The Crew and Dream On.
He met with a group of Race To The Top students and also spoke with Year 7 & 8 students about his career and why as human beings we enjoy reading a good story.
He spoke about the elements that go into making a good story and he asked the students if they thought a story could exist without human characters?
Many students spoke about cartoon characters, Disney stories like the Lion King and the novel Animal Farm was also mentioned .
However, Mr Rai explained: “We do not really know what animals are thinking and feeling, we have to guess what animals are thinking and for stories we have to give objects and animals human personalities and only then can they become characters.”
He went on to say about the reasons why as humans we enjoy hearing about other people and reading a good story, Mr Rai said: “As human beings we like stories as we are curious and also nosey, and we want to find out more information. Humans throughout history have always found time to tell stories.”
He spoke a bit about his books he has written and spoke about his influences and where he gets his ideas from, including meeting with people and through different life experiences.
He read an extract from his book The Crew as a taster for the students.
He said: “I enjoy writing hard hitting books that explore things in society and I like writing stories that you can really get your teeth into.”
Dream On, was the second of his books he introduced to the students, which follows the story a young lad with aspirations to become a professional football with or without his family’s support.
He also spoke about the author Sue Townsend and how her book series, The Secret Life of Adrian Mole, had inspired him to become an author along with his love for reading helped him to become a writer.
At the end of his presentation, Mr Rai said he encouraged the students to read more in order to become successful and how it will help them to learn more.