The popular and celebrated Mrs Sunderland Festival of Music, Speech and Drama has become part of the very fabric of Huddersfield. The festival is keeping up with the times by adding new classes so that adults and children can get their creative juices flowing.
The festival, which runs from 17th to 25th February are hosting a number of short story writing classes for children and an open class where any one can join.
They have even drafted in children’s author Emily Diamand to help with the classes. Diamand has written the opening lines of a new short story called, Lost: “The abandoned house was our protection. Hiding behind a solid wall, the rough bricks against my back, it made me feel safe. Sort of. Alec was next to me, still gasping, both of us out of breath after all that running.”
The opening is the starting point for your very own short story.
Emily’s first novel, Flood Child, won the first Times/Chicken House Fiction competition.
Asked for her advice for budding authors, Emily said: “Listen to those stories niggling away at you, and try to write them down the best you can. Let other people read your work, and try to listen to what they like and don’t like without getting upset – a very hard thing to do!”
The festival encourages entries from local schools.