I visited St Catherine's school in Chipping Campden on May 10th to talk about The Emergency Zoo. This was my very first event for the Zoo and the children really loved the book.

The Emergency Zoo sounds amazing!!!! with a bit of drama mixed up with fun and adventures. I would recommend this book to anyone 7 or up. Jack,10 yrs.

The school visit was organised by Emily Dunn who runs a wonderful bookshop in Chipping Campden, called A Festival of Books.

Emily ran a book stall for the children. I am so excited to read your new book tonight. Hannah,10 yrs.

Lovely event with the girls at this great school in Hackney. They had all read HIDDEN and asked some great questions. They also created beautiful posters for me.

"You're an inspiration," said one of the girls.

Lovely morning with the students of St Andrew the Apostle, Barnet. "It's really important for students to meet role models who have followed their passions and interest into adult life and achieved their dreams. We look forward to working with Miriam again in the future." Mr Vassiliou, Deputy Head and Head of English.

I had a wonderful morning with the girls of EGA at the Jewish Museum. The girls had all read my novel, STUFFED and some of them had read the other books too. Our theme was packing a small bag when you only have a few minutes to leave your home forever. This is a theme which runs through two of my books in the Hayling cycle, HIDDEN and STUFFED. The Museum brought in the theme of the Kindertransport. 

My publishers, Albury Books, have blogged about the session here.

The girls asked wonderful questions and enjoyed reading out my drama script adapted from a scene in STUFFED.

I was the guest author on a tutored children's writing retreat at the beautiful Arvon house at Lumb Bank in July 2013, with author/tutors Nicky Browne and Steve Voake. We spent a lovely evening around a cosy fire, as I read my poetry and extracts from HIDDEN and ILLEGAL and talked about my writing career. As Lumb Bank was originally Ted Hughes' home, one of the poems I read was about The Iron Man and The Thought-Fox. It sounded just right in that beautiful setting. I hope to be back at Lumb Bank again one day soon.

I had a wonderful time speaking in two international schools in Frankfurt. The students were from all over the world and spoke very good English. They engaged very well with the themes of human rights and tolerance from my novel HIDDEN and I also read from ILLEGAL and STUFFED.

The students asked great questions, read out poems and my drama scripts, did some lovely writing and were great fun to meet. A very uplifting experience.

Here are some of the comments after the sessions :-

Miriam deals with some very serious topics in her books, topics which I usually prefer to avoid. Yet the way she spoke about it and read fragments made me want to read her books.

Betty 13 yrs.

I liked that Miriam talks about actual subjects in her books but in a way that young adolescents understand it.

Sophia 13 yrs.

I thought the reading was actually the best one I've had so far. I love the types of stories you write and love how you made us do some activities and think about things.

Angela, 13 yrs.

I liked it when some students were asked to read and act some parts for the class. It was brilliant.

Sariah, 13yrs.

Your books showed problems children have and how they overcome the fear of the truth and the problems.I read two of your books before the reading and they were the best books I ever read in a long time.

Gesa, 13 yrs.

Wonderful morning with the students discussing my work. They volunteered to read my drama script from HIDDEN, asked lots of great questions and listened as I read extracts from all three of the Hayling cycle books.

Great afternoon with the girls at EGA, speaking about my journey as a writer and reading from my work. Many thanks to librarian, Lesley Cheethamm for the invite and for her lovely feedback, "The girls really enjoyed it!"

I was invited to speak to the girls from Henrietta Barnett School and two of the students acted out HIDDEN, taking three parts each. It was amazing. They were completely word perfect  - very impressive. The students also enjoyed reading my drama scripts adapted from my Hayling novels and asked extremely perceptive questions about my work and about writing in general. A lovely event.

Thanks so much for organising this - the girls really enjoyed themselves and Miriam is very engaging.

English teacher, Henrietta Barnett School.

It was wonderful to see so many young people in the library and they clearly enjoyed themselves... I hope we can work together again soon.

Catherine Lusted, Librarian, Golders Green Library.

15 schools from Portsmouth and five authors; me plus Andy Briggs, Zella Compton, Ali Sparkes and Andrew Norris. Great afternoon!!

Feedback from participants in my Festival workshop, 'Writing for Children and Teens.

I was touched by the generosity with which you shared your tips for a career as a children's writer. Your approach was practical, realistic and encouraging.

Virginia MacGregor, English teacher, student on M.A. Creative Writing

Your wonderful workshop has inspired me to write!

Kate Wong

The 5 hours round trip I made to attend your workshop was more than worth the travel. Thank you for leading such an informative and individualised workshop. My only regret is that you do not offer a series of workshops in my hometown.

Denyse Kirkby, author, Portsmouth Libraries Writer in Residence.

Great to hear your thoughts on writing for children.

Daniella Wills, writer for children's magazines

I ran a creative writing workshop on 'Filling the empty stage', developing characters and plot, for 12 students who regularly meet in the evenings to write poems, plays, short stories and novels. Here I am in their state-of-the art new library.

Charlie (on the left)  and Iona, pictured here, are both in the Lower Sixth. Iona has just started writing but Charlie has written plays and also leads writing sessions for Y9 students. The piece they wrote in my session involved murder, mayhem, twins and the cord of a set of headphones!!

I really enjoyed Miriam's workshop. I got plenty of good advice and had a good laugh too!

Charlie Penny, Sixth Form student.

It was wonderful to have Miriam in our A2 English Literature class to discuss themes in ‘Hidden’. We are studying Othello and talking to Miriam helped the class to explore the decisions the writer made in constructing the text. Students discussed why a writer might be interested in exploring the theme of immigration and a range of very different responses to this voiced by different characters. One student raised a question about whether genuine communication between two very different cultures was possible. Learning about the setting of ‘Hidden’ also helped students to re-evaluate the use of an island as a setting in ‘Othello’. The class explored different ways the writers had written about war and the difficulty of addressing such a complex subject in fiction. Students without a doubt benefited from having had contact with a writer who so bravely addresses a range of difficult issues young people of today experience.

English teacher, Haringey Sixth Form Centre

Thank you for your talk and for giving the students a different viewpoint to think about. You and 'Hidden' were still under discussion after lunch and I am being pestered for your next book when it comes out.

Vanessa Noble, School Librarian, Hayling College