Alumna Sophie Kirtley

How my PGCE at Exeter helped guide my author journey

Here Alumna Sophie Kirtley traces how her learning at Exeter and experiences as a teacher inform her writing for children.

"Hello, my name is Sophie Kirtley and I’m a children’s author. My debut novel The Wild Way Home was published last year by Bloomsbury and my second, The Way to Impossible Island, has just come out. The Wild Way Home: : Sophie Kirtley: Bloomsbury Children's Books ;  The Way To Impossible Island: : Sophie Kirtley: Bloomsbury Children's Books Both books are time-slip adventures, set partly in the Stone Age, although there’s a twinkling of magic to my stories there’s also a realism at their heart. My books are about friendship really, and families and being yourself.

"My own story is invariably twisted in amongst the narrative threads too. Before becoming an author, I was an English teacher; I taught in secondary schools in Oxfordshire, Cornwall and Somerset for over fifteen years. And before that I did my PGCE, at Exeter in 2001-2.

"I’d always known I loved books and stories and reading and writing, but teacher training was a real eye-opener for me; it made me have to go back to basics and reflect on learning processes from the inside out, in order to help young people develop a love of literature and an understanding of texts. Luckily for me I was taught by brilliant Debra Myhill whose brightness and enthusiasm was infectious. She was such an innovative course leader and I loved her approach – that we could give children the tools for learning and that we were learners too. Debra put emphasis on the importance of English teachers being writers too; why not practise what you teach! I’m not at all surprised to see that her research in this area has developed still further in recent years About - Teachers as Writers  I can’t wait to see where it leads next!

"Becoming an author definitely came out of being a teacher first. I was always a writer, but prior to teaching I only really wrote self-important angsty poetry – looking back now I realise that I was writing for myself really. I used writing as a way of working stuff out and understanding my world – no harm in that at all. But writing for other people came out of doing a job that was all about other people; teaching. That outward thinking and reflectiveness that I first learned at Exeter is what made me love teaching and find it so fulfilling.

"I no longer teach formally, as I find that teaching feeds on the same part of my brain that writing does and my creative fodder isn’t infinite. Saying that, it is vital for me to still work with young learners, simply because I love it. With an author colleague, Chris Vick, I currently co-lead a programme of ACE funded writing workshops for young people and I regularly do schools, library and festival events with children too. Sophie Kirtley, Author Visits, School Events, Teachers, Reading for Pleasure This contact is not only great fun but it helps to keep my books grounded and focused on what real children want to read.

"And that’s what I want to write: stories for children, with children at their heart. I’m proud of what I do and I’m proud of the route I’ve taken to get here. I’m also very grateful to Debra Myhill and University of Exeter for being there, right at the very start of my author journey."

You can keep up with Sophie via her website, Twitter and Instagram as well as purchase her books online.

Pictures of the front covers of Sophie's books: 

Date: 20 July 2021