Have you ever wanted to write for children? What makes for a gripping tale? How can writing wild adventures inspire young people to take action for nature?

Join author and educator Yarrow Townsend for an insightful journey into the world of children’s books. In this engaging talk, Yarrow describes how living and working in our local landscapes inspired her writing. From night-swims in the River Itchen, to stomping through New Forest bogs - to living on a narrowboat - Yarrow explores how even the smallest adventures can help us tell amazing stories.

With readings from her own books (along with a few glimpses into the authors who inspired her), Yarrow will share her top tips for crafting your own stories and navigating the world of children’s publishing today.

This talk will be followed by a short Q&A. 

About Yarrow:

Yarrow Townsend is an author and poet whose published work focusses primarily on environmental issues in natural landscapes. Her first novel for young people, The Map of Leaves (Chicken House, 2022) was Sunday Times’ Children’s Book of the Week in 2022 and was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award in 2023. Described by judges as ‘mesmerising’, the story centres on river pollution and the importance of weeds and has been translated into Turkish, Czech, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. Her second novel A Ship in the Dark (Chicken House, 2024) looks at the impact of light pollution on seabird migration. 

Yarrow is currently the New Forest National Park’s first ever Writer in Residence. From 2024-2025 she will be based at the Countryside Education Trust in Beaulieu, working in the woods and writing poetry about the trees and the farm.