SCHOOLCHILDREN are set to be inspired by authors, illustrators and poets this week after the launch of the annual Swindon Youth Festival of Literature.

Now in its seventh year, the festival aims to inspire young people to take up reading, with talks by well known names in the field of children’s literature.

This year’s launch event was attended by children’s author Joffre White, who will be visiting schools throughout the week.

It was also announced that Joffre will be taking up the role of Reading and Writing Patron for Swindon secondary schools for the next two years, with a remit to encourage, inspire and foster a ‘Reading is Cool’ ethos and support creative writing.

“I’m really looking forward to this and looking to inspire the children,” said Joffre, who wrote the Frog series of books.

“I have been to Swindon several times before and it is really nice to be asked back. The festival is fantastic and the women who put it together do a fantastic job.

“Most festivals are aimed at adults so this is a great opportunity for young people to find the books which inspire them.

“There is a great range of authors coming to Swindon this week which would rival most other festivals.”

As well as talking about his books, Joffre will spend the week giving motivational speeches encouraging children to search for a book which they find exciting.

He said: “It’s all very well speaking to adults who are already interested in reading.

“The real challenge comes in getting children into reading, many of whom have a perception that it is boring.

“For me, the library is the most important place in a school.

“Books are perfect for helping children to understand what they want to be.

“Whatever they want to be, whether it is an F1 driver or a ballerina, then a book has been written on it “I want to break this perception that books aren’t interesting.”

Over the lifetime of the festival, more than 40,000 students have been involved across 11 schools.

Running all this week, special lessons will take place for the youngsters, on top of talks by an array of guests.

Fiona Hardcastle, the LRC manager at Dorcan Academy, is a coordinator of the event.

She said: “We aim to promote and encourage our students to read, write and use their creative skills.

“The authors will go to different schools across the week along with an illustrator. There will also be a poet who visits the school.”

The festival was officially opened by the Mayor, Teresa Page, who said the festival was a key part of the school calendar.

She added: “This is a very important event for the children of Swindon and if it was ever dropped there would be a big gap.”