Paddington Bear’s marmalade sandwiches got him into several sticky situations and Bruce Bogtrotter’s theft of Miss Trunchball’s cake left him biting off much more than he could chew.
As for Alice, she bitterly regretted doing as she was told by the bottle that was labelled “Drink Me” when she fell down the rabbit hole.
With a long and established history in literature, food and drink makes for a fascinating theme from which to explore stories, art and music. With the added twist of crime and wrongdoing added into the mix, the Story Factory team is promising scrumptious creative fun on Friday 13 April at St Wilfrid’s Church Hall in Chichester.
Story Factory founders Katy Lassetter and Vicky Edwards say they are also delighted to welcome author Suzie Wilde (whose debut novel was one of The Guardian’s top five Science Fiction and Fantasy stories of 2017) as the day’s guest expert.
Katy explained: “Our aim is to inspire young imaginations by offering a day-long workshop that includes sessions in creative writing, art, music and storytelling as well as games. ‘Crime and Nourishment’ will see children working on their own stories, with an emphasis on descriptive writing.
“We are delighted to welcome Suzie, the author of the critically acclaimed Young Adult novel The Book of Bera, who will give children some brilliant tips on writing an opening that makes you want to keep turning the pages.
“Our resident artist Jessica Vennables will be on hand to guide children through the art element, as will our music practitioner Mike Fry who will be exploring the rhythm of descriptive language. With plenty of fun and games along the way, there will also be storytelling sessions in the Cosy Corner for younger children.”
Beginning life almost four years ago as a one-off workshop to gauge interest in storytelling through different mediums, Story Factory has grown into regular well-attended workshops that allow children to explore their imaginations, giving their creativity a free rein. While guided, workshops are not prescriptive, enabling a broad age range of participants (children 6-13 years) to work happily alongside each other.
Past guests include authors, publishers, illustrators, story massage practitioners, and newspaper editors, all of whom have loved being part of such inventiveness and originality.
For the next couple of Story Factory workshops, the children will also benefit from goody bags sponsored by locally based manufacturers and distributors of educational resources and teaching aids Synergy Learning Products and The Phoenix, a weekly comic book for girls and boys.
Sussex Arts Academy (SAA), which aims to provide easier access to the best in arts and cultural education for young people across West Sussex, plays an important part in this creative event.
David Sword, operations manager for SAA, said: “SAA is proud to be associated with Story Factory which provides inclusive, inspirational experiences for children. Their success is self-evident when you see the enthusiasm of the children and we were delighted when Story Factory won an Observer award for contribution to arts in the community.”
The workshop will take place on Friday 13 April. For further details email katy@chichestercopywriter or call 01243 533421.
