Children’s Laureate Wales FAQs
Children's Laureate Wales
Who is the Children’s Laureate Wales 2023-2025?
The current Children’s Laureate Wales is Alex Wharton.
Workshops
What age range does the Children’s Laureate Wales work with?
The Children’s Laureate Wales primarily works with young people aged 5-13 years but will also happily arrange activity for young people aged up to 18 years.
Feel free to get in touch with Literature Wales at childrenslaureate@literaturewales.org if you have any enquiries about potential participants and eligibility.
What does a Children’s Laureate Wales workshop look like?
A Children’s Laureate Wales workshop aims to get children and young people expressing themselves through poetry in a fun, and interactive way. They promote creativity, communication skills, and self-confidence whilst also developing a love of literature.
Schools and organisations are invited to let the Laureate know of the workshop’s intended aims, themes, and content beforehand through the online form.
Key information:
- A Children’s Laureate Wales in-person workshop will usually last 2 hours.
- A Children’s Laureate Wales digital workshop will usually last 1.5 hours.
- School workshops usually take place either between 9.30-11.30 am or 1.00-3.00 pm.
What safeguarding procedures have been put in place?
Alex Wharton has a current DBS certificate and proof of DBS is available upon request.
Please note: Visiting writers should never be left without another adult from the organisation when working with children or vulnerable adults. Writers are not teachers and at least one teacher must always remain with the writer in school.
Schools and organisations are welcome to get in touch with us at childrenslaureate@literaturewales.org if you’d like to know more about Literature Wales’ safeguarding procedures.
Arranging a Children’s Laureate Wales Visit
How do I invite the Children’s Laureate Wales for a visit?
Laureate workshops are arranged on a freelance basis and will be administered by Authors Aloud.
Visit and fee arrangements will be confirmed between Authors Aloud and the school. Further enquiries for school visits with Alex will need to be addressed to info@authorsalouduk.co.uk
Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that the poet will be available to offer a date for all schools, as there is a high demand for Children’s Laureate Wales visits. However, there are many other writers and poets in Wales available to run creative writing workshops in schools, which can be found on our Writers of Wales Directory.
If you require further support in finding another creative facilitator to visit your school, please contact Literature Wales.
Is there any financial support available to help with the cost?
School workshops are eligible for Literature Wales’ Inspiring Communities Fund. This scheme offers financial support of up to 50% of the fees paid to the poet. Find out more and apply on the Inspiring Communities Fund page.
Commissioning Poems and Project Ideas
Is it possible to commission a poem by Children's Laureate Wales?
It is possible to commission a poem from Children’s Laureate Wales by getting in touch with us on childrenslaureate@literaturewales.org.
Is it possible to get the Children's Laureate Wales involved in a project?
Literature Wales’ priorities over the next three years will be Representation and Equality, the Climate Emergency and Health and Well-being.
If your organisation is interested in discussing the possibility of working with the Children’s Laureate Wales on a project, especially if it’s relevant to the priorities above, get in touch with childrenslaureate@literaturewales.org to organise to discuss any ideas you might have.