I love visiting schools to talk to students and run writing workshops. I normally talk to students in Years 7 to 9 about writing dystopia and/or comedy. Please get in touch if you would like a visit!
Testimonials:
‘Sarah Govett made a terrific impression on our Year 7 and 8 when she visited us at Reed’s in Cobham yesterday. Her books were well known to our pupils as she had been on the reading list for the Trinity Schools Book Award, and not only our choice to win, but the overall winner of the competition. It is so nice to have a new author to recommend to boys who I want to move on from the Cherub series; whose books are well written and with a thought provoking theme, but still pacey and exciting. From an audience of 120 we sold 215 books from the trilogy, which is extraordinary considering that half the audience had already read the first book. I couldn’t recommend her more highly! Megan Fitzgerald, Librarian, Reed’s School
We were lucky enough to have Sarah Govett visit Tolworth Girls’ School during World Book Day week to give a talk to a whole Year 8 group of 200+ students. An absolutely brilliant author and a great speaker, Sarah got our students excited about literature and writing and climate change. Fantastic. Can’t wait to have her back again.Vanessa Howe, Kingston Libraries
Sarah is a very natural speaker, with an instinctive understanding of her audience, and the students listened attentively, keen to make contributions and ask questions at the end. It was very telling that the questions were so much more thoughtful than the usual generic kind that we hear often at these events; the students had been so stimulated they wanted to know more about the themes, the characters and the context of the novels.
I would not hesitate to recommend Sarah to inspire young people to read enthusiastically and think in depth about the wider world in which they live. Her books provide an excellent springboard for discussions about the environment, education and social mobility, and as such, they open up discussions about a range of topics relevant to geography, science, PHSE and citizenship. They handle some interesting aspects of society in an intelligent and responsible way, and during her presentation at KCJS, Sarah developed and challenged the students’ perceptions throughout.
Sarah is an excellent and charismatic communicator with young people. Her visit made an impact on each of the eighty boys present and we look forward to asking her to return to King’s in the future. Claire McGregor, Head of English, King’s College (Wimbledon) Junior School
I was introduced to The Territory as one of the organising committee of the Trinity School Book Awards; a senior librarian colleague recommended that we include it on our shortlist. I read the book and enjoyed the way that it raised concerns about the environment, rationing of resources, inequality of opportunity and education all within a tense, fast-paced story with credible characters. We shortlisted the book, students from the 24 participating schools voted for their favourite of the seven titles (which included some well-known names such as Philip Reeve and Sarah Crossan) and The Territory was chosen as the overall winner.
The Territory has certainly been a success at this school (it’s an all boys’ school). If I suggest it to a boy to read, a classmate will often pipe up to endorse the suggestion. Sarah came to visit the school in November 2017 and gave an engaging and well-pitched talk to our Year 9s. We sold more books at that event than we have with more established authors and demand for copies to borrow has continued ever since , due to the ‘word of mouth’ effect. Most of the boys who have read it have gone on to read Escape and I already have reservations for the third book. Tamsin Farthing, Librarian, Royal Grammar School, Guildford
Sarah Govett visited Ibstock Place School in March 2017 as part of our World Book Day celebrations. She gave two engaging assemblies to our year 7 and 8 pupils, which were much acclaimed. The Library was overrun during morning break with pupils who wished to purchase Sarah’s books – indeed, it was the most successful author visit we have had in recent years. The pinnacle of her visit was a workshop on Dystopian literature which she gave to a select number of pupils; there was so much interest we had to turn pupils away! Her literature resonates with pupils at IPS; especially since dystopian literature is in vogue at the moment. The Territory has implored pupils to consider the outcomes which may ensue in a world where freedom is pitted against survival; an inspiration for interesting conversations, especially in light of our present age. Angela Platt, Librarian Ibstock Place School
Sarah Govett’s visit to Waldegrave was a real highlight of our annual Book Week. Her love of literature and dystopian novels is contagious and the girls loved her enthusiasm. She was brilliant talking about her books to our Year 8 students engaging even our reluctant readers with the storyline. Girls were keen to participate in her workshop which allowed them to unleash their creativity and got them thinking about creating worlds, exploring ideas, characters and language. We’d love to have her back in school again. Helena Croucher, Librarian at Waldegrave School for Girls
Sarah spoke to our Year 9 pupils about her writing and books. Her warm manner and engaging delivery has inspired many pupils to try dystopian fiction for the first time. It was a delight to welcome her here, and pupils are already asking when the third book of the Territory trilogy will be available. Deborah Moore, Head of Library, Caterham School
Sarah Govett visited our state secondary school on World Book Day in March this year to hold a number of creative writing workshops and to talk to the students about her fabulous and thrilling book series, The Territory.
Sarah’s books were already popular amongst our students who have responded to her beautifully drawn dystopian world of the Wetlands with passion. The characters connect with the students because they are so vividly imagined and described, and feel entirely credible. They are flawed and human, which makes them characters which one can really invest in and trust. The fact that Sarah has worked with young adults has clearly enabled her to closely observe her audience and understand what it is that engages and excites them. This is often not the easiest and most receptive audience; they know what they don’t like and are not afraid to let you know! Sarah however, held them in the palm of her hand as she explained how she had come to the idea for the series and read extracts from the first book aloud to them. You could have heard a pin drop in the room, and the students walked out of the hall and straight to the table I had set up in the hope of selling just a few copies. We were inundated and virtually sold out.
I have had a steady stream of visitors to the library ever since asking for the third book in the series – I am so excited that I can let the students know it is nearly here! Sarah Garrett, Librarian at Christ’s School, Richmond
I have been very happy to recommend Sarah Govett’s “Territory” series of books to pupils aged 10-14 at Emanuel School and it features on several of my Recommended Reading lists. Sarah visited Emanuel School in 2016 to support some themed work we doing on dystopian fiction and her talk covered many of the issues which often crop up in dystopian fiction in a very successful author visit. The real success of “The Territory” in our school library is that the majority of the pupils who have borrowed this book have enjoyed it enough to read the sequel in the series and I have had very positive praise from many pupils. This is what thirteen year old Emma said in a review for our displays: “Set in an environmental post-apocalyptic world, where global warming forces most people to live in marshes, children struggle to get an education where the privileges are held by few. This very clever book fused terrific characters, environmental issues in a very believable and dangerous setting. I will definitely be recommending this page turner to my friends”. This book has also been nominated for the Trinity School Book Award, of which Emanuel School is a member. Our Junior School Scholars will be reading all the shortlisted books as part of their programme and thus far it is one of our favourites on the shortlist. Tony Jones, Librarian at Emanuel School
Our boys very much enjoyed Sarah Govett’s visit here in December and voted for The Territory as the most popular book on the TSBA shortlist. All our library copies of The Territory trilogy are currently on loan and the boys are very much looking forward to the publication of Book 3. David Rose, Senior Librarian, City of London School
Sarah Govett 