Author calls for pupils to be taught to express themselves through creativity

Since 2011 the Queen has been the patron of First Story which sends professional authors into schools to teach creative writing.

Queen Camilla during a reception at Clarence House, London, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the First Story charity (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

The acclaimed author of Girl With A Pearl Earring has voiced her concerns about exams and the curriculum taking precedence over pupils learning to express themselves through creativity.

Tracy Chevalier, whose book became a global sensation and a popular film, made the comments when she joined the Queen in celebrating the 15th anniversary of creative writing charity First Story.

Camilla has been the patron of the organisation, which sends professional authors into schools to teach creative writing, since 2011 and Chevalier has been an ambassador for the past 12 months after being impressed with its work.

The Queen invited the charity and its supporters to Clarence House for a reception, where 16-year-old Daniella Koranteng impressed the guests with a reading of a poem she penned during writing sessions with First Story author Ashley Hickson-Lovence, at her school Skinner’s Academy in Hackney, east London.

Chevalier said: “There are so few resources in schools now to teach anything real, it’s all about exams (and) the curriculum and to actually step outside the curriculum, which is what a lot of students really need, they need some way to express themselves.”

She joined one of writer-in-residence Ashley Hickson-Lovence’s sessions at Skinner’s Academy and was impressed by his work with the young people.

The author said: “He just pulled out of them incredible poetry, incredible prose about their lives, about what they feel and I just thought that was wonderful and I want to support a charity that does this.”

Commenting on Girl With A Pearl Earring, which was made into a film starring Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth and Cillian Murphy, she said she was still “astonished” by the reaction almost 25 years since the book was published.

She said: “I was at the Chalke Valley literary festival and 400 people came to hear me talk once again about that book – have you not heard enough from me already? But people seem to be intrigued by Vermeer, by that painting so I keep going.”

The charity was founded by William Fiennes and Katie Waldegrave and they were supporting by leading writers like Julian Barnes, Zadie Smith and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Its Young Writers Programme in schools operates across London, the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Manchester – and aims to build students’ confidence, creativity and writing craft.

Mr Hickson-Lovence started working at Skinner’s Academy in September 2021 and did 16 sessions over the course of the school year, and said ultimately, he aimed to give “students a bit of love and warmth through creative writing”.

He said: “So that can be stories or poetry or whatever it is – a range of different forms – to give them their voice and platform to say how they feel about the world and I think Daniella’s poem is testament to that.”