Well-known children’s author Matt Dickinson visits Trinity School

23 Feb 2016

Surviving at altitudes of over 7000 metres and in temperatures of up to minus 70 degrees were just some of the stories that captured the imagination of pupils at Trinity School (Croydon) last Monday when visiting author, Matt Dickinson, spent the day sharing his experiences as a writer, film maker and explorer. Boys in years 6 to 9 listened in awe as he explained how his love of adventure and extreme environments provide material for his stories.

As the author of ‘The Everest Files’, Matt Dickinson is one of the writers shortlisted for the Trinity Schools Book Awards, where six books in each of the junior and senior categories are selected by 23 leading independent schools in London and the South East, known as the Trinity Schools Group. Pupils are then asked to vote for their favourite read. The awards this year will be held on 9th March at Trinity School.

Matt Dickinson was clearly delighted with his enthusiastic audience and said he had spent “a super day at Trinity School, Croydon, with some lively sessions and great questions from the pupils. Their knowledge of the natural world is impressive, with confidence to talk about tectonic plates and glaciers and all sorts of natural environments. I feel sure there were some future explorers and film makers in the audience and I will hope to be back as a visiting author in the near future.”

Two Year 7 pupils explained what they loved about Matt Dickinson’s talk. Liam Writer (aged 12) said: “I think that climbing Mount Everest must have been a really interesting experience and Matt showed how it must have felt with so little oxygen and with all the dangers he went through. I look forward to reading his book.”

And Rory Tully (aged 11) added: “We thought that it was an amazing how he could make us feel what he was experiencing at the time. He explained about his near death experience which was thrilling and how the ice flew over his and the other climbers’ heads in Antarctica.”

Other books by Matt Dickinson include The Death Zone, his account of climbing Mount Everest; Black Ice; Mortal Chaos; Deep Oblivion; and Speed Freaks. His second part of The Everest Files, ‘North Face’, is due to be published in March 2016.

Photo: Matt Dickinson with (L-R) Trinity Year 7 pupils Rory Tully (11 years) and Liam Writer (12 years).