Big Issue Events

Read all about our success story...

The Back to School campaign, a joint initiative between The Big Issue and Scottish Book Trust has enjoyed a fantastic first year.

We have taken popular children’s and teen’s authors such as Keith Gray, Chris Ryan and Vivian French to secondary and primary schools all over Scotland, from Dumfries to Portobello, and watched young faces light up at the chance to talk to the writer of a book they’ve loved.

All sorts of interesting questions have been asked of our writers, such as “Why did you want to write about teen suicide?” and “Do you still have your own teeth?”

All of our participating authors have enormously enjoyed their experiences and are very keen to repeat their visits, and the feedback from the schools is equally enthusiastic.

Even First Minister Alex Salmond is a big fan: “This is a terrific initiative. It will encourage Scotland’s youth to engage with novels and help improve literacy. It will be very exciting for pupils to meet writers and quiz them about their books.”

Feedback from the James Jauncey Big Issue Event in February

"On Friday 20th February we were given the opportunity to meet the author james Jauncey. He discussed his novels 'The Reckoning' and 'The Witness', and gave us an insight into the way he writes his books. It was interesting how he, a professional author obtains his ideas, and how he puts them into practice. Afterwards we were given the opportunity to ask James Jauncey some questions about his work style, and writing technique. Pnce he finished talking to us we all applauded him wildly. Then a selected few, including myself, were chosen to be interviewed by The Big Issue. It was an interesting experience."

-David, Kinross High School

Listen to a interview with James Jauncey on our podcast page Listen Up!