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Claire Askew

All of the information on this page has been provided by the author. If you need an author to have specialist skills, experience or knowledge please ask for more information about this ahead of booking them for an event. Please note that Scottish Book Trust cannot carry out Disclosure checks on Live Literature authors for most events. It is the responsibility of the person organising the event to carry out the appropriate Disclosure checks.
Contact: [email protected]
Local authority: Edinburgh City
Languages: English
Claire Askew's headshot

Claire Askew is an award-winning poet, writer and educator based in Edinburgh. She spent five years working in Further Education at Edinburgh College, and holds a PDA in Adult Teaching. In 2014 she became the Adult Learning Project Co-Ordinator at Scottish Book Trust and worked on projects for young people and adults who struggle with literacy, as well as designing and delivering best practice CPD training around literacy and reading.

In 2016, Claire became a Scottish Book Trust reading champion, and spent a year engaging reluctant readers aged 10-18 through story-based games. As a schools writer in residence for Scottish Book Trust in 2018, she worked with students at Craigroyston High School to create their own magazine, and as schools writer in residence for Edinburgh International Book Festival she engaged students from high schools across Edinburgh with ideas about home, belonging and citizenship.

Claire also works with adults and spent two years as writer in residence at the University of Edinburgh. She was the 2017 Jessie Kesson Fellow and is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Stirling. Claire holds a MSc and a PhD in Creative Writing (Poetry). (Photo credit: Lewis Khan)

Local authorities will visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events will deliver

Bibliotherapy; Mentoring; Panel event; Performance; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop; Professional development, CLPL or CPD

Audience will work with

Adult learners; Care-experienced people; Carers; Intergenerational learning; Adults with additional support needs; People experiencing mental health problems; Prisoners & young offenders; Reluctant readers; Vulnerable young people (under 18); Vulnerable adults; Vulnerable older people; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts); Young people with additional support needs (under 18) (ASN/SEN)

Topics of work

Activism & protest; Adolescence; Adventure; Ageing; Animals; Biography & memoir; Care experience; Characters of colour & BAME characters; Childhood; Class & society; Coasts, seas & oceans; Contemporary fiction; Crime fiction; Death, grief & bereavement; Discrimination & prejudice; Drug addiction, alcoholism & substance abuse; Editing & editing your own work; Emigration & immigration; Environment & climate; Event production; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Family; Fantasy; Food; Friendship; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; Historical fiction; History; Human rights; LGBTQIA+ characters; Loneliness & isolation; Love & romance; Music; Mystery & thriller; Nature; Performance training; Politics; Poverty; Publishing & getting published; Religion & beliefs; Rural communities; Science; Science fiction; Seasonal books; Self-publishing & independent publishing; Sports; Urban communities; Vehicles; Violence & abuse; Wars & conflicts

Age groups published for

Adults

Age groups will work with

9-11; 12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+