“Reading saved my life and writing helped me to make sense of it”. “I learned much more by reading than I did by studying” These were some of the comments, real pearls of wisdom, from the Catalan writer Jordi Sierra i Fabra speaking to our Secondary students when he visited the School, on the 20th of December. This well known and award-winning writer of childrens and teenage literature left our students with one very clear recommendation: “Read, read whatever you like, but Read!”, he said.
The visit, for our Year 8 and 9 students, was organised by Ana Asín and the Spanish Language Department. Jordi Sierra i Fabra gave a very dynamic and entertaining talk, pulling the children´s legs and making them laugh. The acclaimed author promoted the value of reading as he went about answering some of the questions the children were asking.
With over 500 books published and more than 12 million copies sold, Jordi Sierra i Fabra discovered his vocation as a writer when he was only 8 years old. Since then, he explained, “I no longer see just novels. Instead, I look for good stories¨. He laughed as he described his brain as “a field which is randomly sown by seeds”. Some seeds take root and become amazing stories, like his latest book “Palmira”, or “Kaffa and the Travelling Doll”, which in 2007 won the National Prize for Children´s and Youth Literature from the Spanish Arts Movement.
Jordi Sierra i Fabra also won the Cervantes Chico Prize in 2012, for his overall work as well as the cultural commitment shown by his Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation in both Spain and Colombia. In 2016, he also received the Edebé Prize for Children and Young Persons Literature, for his book “The Sorcerer´s Apprentice and the Invisibles.” And in 2017, he was awarded a Merit Gold Medal for Fine Arts, from the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
We honestly can´t think of a better way of starting our well deserved Christmas holidays. During which time, by the way, we hope that our students will take on board the advice of such a marvelous author, and enjoy reading a good book!