"an energetic and charismatic speaker"
St Marylebone Church of England School, London
A visit from an author can significantly contribute to the development of a school's reading culture. If you'd like a visit from the creator of Bridget Vanderpuff, read on!
Experienced presenter
Martin has extensive experience of delivering events in schools and other venues, and has worked alongside the Scottish Book Trust for many years. As a former teacher, his sessions are varied and engaging, helping promote reading for pleasure and the pursuit of creative ambition.
Engaging sessions
Martin's fun events contain details about his books, characters, and inspirations, along with a reading and a Q&A. His presentations are calibrated for each year group, in order to best support his entertaining stories about the creative process.
Writing workshops
Martin's years in the classroom, combined with his experience of successfully publishing across different genres and age-ranges, have given him a unique insight into the writing process as it applies to young learners. He has extensive experience of delivering folio masterclasses for all presentation years up to Adv H, as well as for primary and lower secondary groups.
"pitch-perfect: engaging, honest, and even challenging where appropriate...
I would not hesitate to recommend Martin to any school."
St Ninian's High School, Glasgow
Events fees - with travel and accommodation expenses charged separately - are as follows:
Half day (start of the school day through lunch): £250.00
Full day: £400.00
For evening events or festivals, please send Martin a message using the contact form.
Virtual Events
Martin is based on the west coast of Scotland, which might mean that time and budgetary restraints preclude an in-person visit. If you would still like the benefits of the live author interaction, a virtual session - presentation lasting between 45 minutes and an hour, followed by Q&A - can be booked for £100. Submitting questions in advance is highly recommended for online events to facilitate ease of communication on the day.
Testimonials
"As a class teacher I was keen to give the pupils in our school the opportunity to participate in a live visit from a Scottish author. Martin Stewart was extremely well received by the learners in our school (p4-p7 age range) and shows so much passion and enthusiasm for his craft. His latest novel in the Bridget Vanderpuff series is an excellent window into a fast-paced, character driven, adventure style of writing and will be an excellent model for showcasing to younger writers how they can create pieces in this genre.
Martin is extremely approachable and has an engaging, vibrant approach when interacting with primary school pupils and, as a school, we are extremely thankful that he could take time out of his busy schedule to come and inspire our learners."
Kay Cafferkey, Teacher, St Patrick's Primary, Strathaven
"Martin is an energetic and charismatic speaker who delivered an immensely entertaining talk to over 50 captivated Year 7s. The students were focussed throughout ― no mean feat for the final lesson of the day! ― and really enjoyed the talk and accompanying dramatic readings. We will certainly be inviting him back!”
Cat O’Connor, Librarian, St Marylebone C of E School, London
“From the get go Martin was pitch-perfect: engaging, honest, and even challenging where appropriate. Pupils were drawn in to his stories of the writing process. I would not hesitate to recommend Martin to any school.”
Donna Baird, Librarian, St Ninian’s High School, Glasgow
“Martin’s workshops had out sixth form students return to lessons “buzzing”, according to their teachers. Not only is Martin witty, engaging and a pleasure to listen to, but the content of the workshops is incredibly helpful: carefully targeted at the year groups he’s working with. Students from Year 7 to 13 (and teachers too) will gain so much from his honest, humble, and very funny approach to creative writing and editing. He really went above and beyond to educate and entertain, and to talk to our students in his own time. We would welcome him back to keep the river at Hatch End in a heartbeat.”
Laura Stanley, Learning Resources Manager, Hatch End High School
"Martin has successfully delivered a huge range of events on behalf of Scottish Book Trust: one off Live Literature sessions, two school residencies, workshops with teen writers, training for writers on our flagship development programme, New Writers Awards, and training for professional writers at our Industry Lab for Freelancers. Martin is friendly, professional, adaptable and experienced. His events are fun for participants and valuable for learners."
Scottish Book Trust
"Martin first came to Coatbridge High School during our inaugural Literacy Festival in 2016. He was invited to that event as a visiting author but, since then, has become so much more. He was introduced at our 2017 Literacy Festival as a “friend of the school”. This friendship has resulted in Martin becoming our author in residence, working with groups of S3 pupils in 2017, 2018 and 2019. His friendship is one that we value highly and it has allowed him to forge close working relationships with pupils and staff which have produced unique and memorable experiences outwith the familiar confines of the classroom. His passion for literature, paired with an ability to understand and relate to young people allow him to teach, support and inspire the young people he works with."
Cameron Mackay, Principal Teacher of Raising Attainment, Coatbridge High School
“Our P7s loved Martin’s creative writing workshop. He was funny, entertaining, engaging, and pitched his talk and activities at just the right level. His teaching background meant he knew how to communicate effectively, and sustain the classes’ interest ― they were enthusiastic about their writing, and keen to continue long after he’d left. He has inspired a new generation of budding authors!”
Rachel Glasgow, Primary 7 teacher, Carolside Primary School, Glasgow
