We were delighted to welcome Christie J. Newport into school today to talk to our pupils in year 9 and 10 about her work as a published author. Christie is a former pupil of Archbishop Temple Church of England High School and won the inaugural Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour in 2021 as well as garnering a number of glowing reviews for her gritty crime debut The Raven’s Mark from best-selling and award-winning authors.

It was fascinating to hear about Christie’s work as an author. She began by talking about the difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing, the pros and cons of both and why she chose to pursue the traditional publishing route. Christie left Archbishop Temple in 1998, she  talked about her experiences at school, not knowing what she wanted to do when she was older but feeling inspired in an English lesson when writing a short story and her teacher asking her to assist other pupils who were struggling. Other experiences weren’t as positive, she talked about being bullied, how she dealt with it and reflected on how bullying affects people’s lives.

Christie spoke about how much she enjoyed studying at college and university and talked about the importance of choosing something you enjoy or are fascinated in. She spoke how attending the Capital Crime Festival gave her the confidence to believe she could write and pursue her ambition of becoming an author and how, after sealing a deal with an agent and publisher, she was invited to be on the Capital Crime Festival’s panel with all her writing heroes.

Christie’s inspiring talk covered overcoming adversity and seizing opportunities, she talked us through the writing process and how she became to be published.

Later today, Christie will be running a writing workshop with some of our year 9 pupils. We hope that Christie’s talk and workshop inspires our pupils to believe they can achieve whatever they wish to pursue.

Thank you to Christie for delivering such an engaging talk and thank you Mrs Baybutt for organising it.

Christie J. Newport’s crime thriller The Raven’s Mark is available to buy now.