List Of Writers

FRENCH, RAY

20 Allerton Grange Drive, Leeds, LS17 6LW
Tel: (0113) 266 8043
Email: rjpfrench@yahoo.co.uk or rayfrench@rayfrench.com  
Website: http://www.rayfrench.com/

Ray French was born in Newport, south Wales to Irish parents. The Red Jag and other stories was published by Planet in 2000 and several stories from that collection have been broadcast on Radio 4. His first novel, All This Is Mine was published in 2004 and has been translated into Dutch and Italian, and he is now writing his second. His story about his father is included in the online anthology Four Fathers, published by Route in January 2005. He runs creative writing workshops and has worked extensively with readers groups. He is a tutor for the Open College of the Arts, mentors other writers, has taught for the Arvon Foundation and is a member of the National Association of Writers in Education.

Reviews:

"…One of the very few writers who can remember precisely what childhood was really like, how crazy and intense it really was. Utterly unpretenious, totally engaging and very funny…"
Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night–Time

"…At long last Wales might just have an author who can do for our indigenous literature what Roddy Doyle did for Irish writing - fuse heritage and hilarity in a thoroughly modern but utterly true voice…"
Western Mail Magazine


Selected Publications:
The Red Jag And Other Stories (Planet, 2000)
All This Is Mine (Secker & Warburg, 2003)
Going Under (Harvill Secker, 2007)

Contributed to:
Four Fathers (contributor) (Route Publishing, 2005)

Eligible Writers on Tour subjects offered:

1. Reading and discussing own work 
2. The Very Idea - Finding the Inspiration to Write. WE all have stories within us; this workshop looks at how to get them on to paper. Francois Sagan said, "I have to start to write to have ideas": this workshop will put that advice into practice.
3. Write a story in a day. Using writing exercises to kickstart the imagination, then introducing a variety of techniques to bring your story to completion.
4. Autobiographical writing - how can we shape our own stories into dramatic narratives that are compelling to others?
5. Writing workshops - a range of activities and workshops based on writing and reading.

AGE RANGE: from 12 years old