Athena Kugblenu: History's fibs and fails

The incomparable Athena Kugblenu joins us on Authors Live to dive into some of history's most outrageous real-life fibs and fails. Athena leads us through an interactive quiz designed to test your knowledge and, hopefully, get you learning along the way. Ever wondered which genius failed their exams, where you'd find more sun worshippers than in Ancient Egypt, or if fairies are actually real? Now's your chance to find out!

Drawing on her experience of being an author, a scriptwriter, a broadcaster, and a stand-up comedian, Athena also shares some salient advice on taking ideas from your head and putting them onto the page.

If you only do one thing...

We know time is tight, so here is just one activity you could do with your class before or after watching the event.

Make a history quiz (LIT 1-11a/2-11a, LIT 1-14a/2-14a, LIT 1-25a/2-25a)

In the session, Athena Kugblenu asked brilliant questions to see how much you know about history’s most epic fails. Choose your own favourite history theme or period of history and then explore non-fiction texts on the topic before creating your own quiz for your classmates. They get a point for choosing the right answer, and you get a point if they don’t! 

You could explore our booklist full of fantastic non-fiction recommendations.