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Manjeet Mann

Language: English
Genre: Activism, Inspiration, Migration
Age group: 12-14, 15-18
Topics: Anti-racism

Award-winning author and poet Manjeet Mann shares the ways in which her background as an actor and love for her local library brought her to a career as a writer. We also hear about the writing process and inspiration for her highly-acclaimed verse novel The Crossing, the story of two teenagers from opposite sides of the world, inspired by the refugee crisis.

Shorter clips of the event are available on the BBC Scotland Learning website(this link will open in a new window).

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 collage story (LIT 4-14a, LIT 4-20a)

Manjeet talks about how she wrote The Crossing in two halves, then cut the stories together. Give the class some newspapers to create their own story. They can do this by cutting out words or sections, experimenting with blacking out words or lines with pen, and adding in some of their own writing

Feeling inspired to tell another story of your own? Find some great creative writing exercises for secondary school pupils below.