Private School News

Successful Author Patrick Ness Visits Caterham School

On Tuesday, 19 January, author Patrick Ness visited Caterham School to speak to pupils in the Fourth Year about his career and his writing. His two most recent books are part of his ‘Chaos Walking’ trilogy for young people. The first book, ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’, is highly original and won The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize. The second, ‘The Ask and the Answer’, has just won the prestigious Costa Children’s Book Award. The final part of the trilogy, entitled ‘Monsters of Men’ will be published in May. The trilogy has already been described by the Costa judges as ‘a major achievement in the making.’

Born in the USA, Patrick studied English Literature at the University of Southern California. His main job after graduating was as corporate writer at a cable company, writing manuals, form letters and speeches. In addition to being a successful author he also sometimes teaches creative writing or writes reviews.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’We are very fortunate that Patrick agreed to come to talk to our Fourth Year pupils as he is due to depart for Australia to promote his books. We believe that a truly excellent education is about more than academic achievement alone and encouraging the enjoyment of reading is very much a part of that. We believe in the power of the written word and the personal enrichment to be gained through reading. Each year we have a number of best selling authors lecture the pupils on their approach to writing and the source of their inspiration. The pupils really enjoyed questioning Patrick about his approach to the subject matter and the issues tackled.’’