Mostly I'm writing this summer, but there are a couple things to watch out for:

I'm going to be at Foyle's bookshop on Charing Cross Road on Thursday, 22 July, 6.30-8.30pm for the launch of Losing It, to which I've contributed a brand new short story (first review here!).  To get a FREE ticket, just email events@foyles.co.uk.  Even though it's for Losing It, I'll also happily sign copies of Monsters of Men, too.  Hope to see you there!

And on Sunday, 22 August, 4.30-5.30, I'll be appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival talking about Monsters of Men.  Tickets go on sale for that 26 June.  Hope to see you there!

From 22 February - 19 March, I'll be doing a publicity tour of Australia and New Zealand.  I'll be visiting a whole bunch of schools, plus Festivals and bookshops and libraries, but here's all the info for events open to everyone, including booking.

25-28 February I'll be at the Perth Writers' Festival .  Details below:

25 February, Perth, I'll be doing two events with Kirsty Murray as part of the Perth Writers' Festival Schools Day.

27 February, Perth, 3.30-4.30pm, I'm on a really cool panel event called "Sex, Drugs and Braces" about controversial topics in teen fiction, with James Roy and Jack Heath.

28 February, Perth, 12.30-1.25pm, I'm doing a solo event as part of Perth Writers' Festival Family Day.

I believe all my Perth Writers' Festival events are free, but you may need to get yourself a ticket!

3 March, Geelong, Victoria, 5.30-7.30pm, an event at the Waterfront Campus Library of Deakin University, Deakin Library, for booking info call 1300 360 436.

4 March, Melbourne, Victoria, I'm doing two events for the State Library of Victoria Centre for Youth Literature with Isobelle Carmody.  Session 1 starts at 10am, Session 2 starts at 1pm.  Details for booking here.

5 March, Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, 10.30-11.45am, I'm doing an event at Ferntree Gully Library & Community Centre.  For bookings, please phone Ferntree Library on (03) 9294 8140.

9 March, Sydney, NSW, 6-7.30pm, University of Sydney, Lecture Theatre 351.  I'll be "presenting".  Not sure yet what form that'll take, but it should be fun.  Details and booking here.

11 March, New Zealand (national), I'll be appearing on TVNZ Good Morning, which looks to be great fun!  Check it out of you're living in New Zealand.

11 March, Wellington, New Zealand, 1.30pm, Scots College, Strathmore.  Mostly schools, but also open to the public for a $5 donation to Haiti relief.  Contact John McIntyre, The Children's Bookshop, NZ: 04 3873905 for bookings.

12 March, Auckland, New Zealand, 7.00pm, St Cuthberts College auditorium, 122 Market Road, Epsom, for bookings contact: Jabberwocky Children's Bookshop, 04 9 524 4781, kidsbooks@jabberwocky.co.nz

15 March, Brisbane, Queensland, 6.30-7.30pm, Queensland University of Technology, Lecture Room N515.  I'll be presenting here as well.  Booking details via ci.publiclectures@qut.edu.au or (07) 3138 5466.

17-19 March I'll be at the Somerset Writers' Festival at Somerset College in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast in Queensland.  This is a huge festival for writers for young people, and I'll be doing several events.  Details below:

17 March, Somerset Writers' Festival, I'll be doing a Grades 10-12 event from 10.15-11am.  Details and booking here.

18 March, Somerset Writers' Festival, I'll be doing a Grades 8-10 event from 11.15-12noon and a Grades 10-12 event from 1.45-2.30pm.  Details and booking here.

18 March, Somerset Writers' Festival (adult event), on this day I'll also be doing an adult panel event called "Growns Up or Growing Up" with Markus Zusak, Sofie Laguna, and Sophie Lee, from 4-5pm.  You will need tickets for this one, definitely.  Details and booking here.

19 March, Somerset Writers' Festival, I'll be doing a Grades 8-10 event from 9.15-10am and a Grades 10-12 event from 11.15-12noon.  Details and booking here.

I believe there'll also be other social events throughout the Festival and plenty of great authors, too.  If you're on or near the Gold Coast, I highly recommend checking this one out.

In addition to the Arvon event below, I'll be appearing in London at the LSE Literature Festival on a panel talking about "The Future of Teen Fiction".  It's free, but you'll need a ticket so check out the link!

I'll be teaching on an Arvon Foundation course the week of 14 June 2010.  It's called "Writing for Young Adults" and I'll be teaching with Celia Rees.  Meg Rosoff will be guest writer in the middle of the week.  This is a course for adults only (sorry!) and will be quite rigorous (but fun, too!).  Check it out here for more info.

I'll be presenting the 2009 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize to the deserved winner on Thursday 8 October (I won it last year and you can only win it once, so very cool to be presenting it).

I'll be signing at the Preston branch of Borders Books on Tuesday, 13 October, at 5pm.  Call 01772 703856 for info. 

And I'll also be signing at 3.30pm Wednesday 14th October at Waterstones, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, NG1 2GR. Tel 0115 948 4499 for more details.  Hope to see you at one or the other!

I'll be at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas on Saturday, 24 October, 1.30pm.

I'll be attending the awards ceremony for the Booktrust Teenage Prize on 18 November.  (I also won this one last year and am extremely surprised and chuffed to be shortlisted this year for The Ask and the Answer).

Plus, I'll be teaching a course at the Arvon Foundation next year, but I don't think details are available for that just yet. 

And I'll be in Australia Feb/March 2010, so more details as they become available, too!

Here are a few new events for the calendar.

I'll be appearing at the Edinburgh Festival on Wednesday, 26 August at 6:30pm, with Bernard Beckett.  I'm also doing a schools event the next day.

I'll be at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature on Tuesday, 22 September, 6.30pm, with Meg Rosoff and Terence Blacker.  Again, I'll be doing school events as well.

I'll be at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas on Saturday, 24 October, 1.30pm.  Booking starts 17 August.

Plus, I'll be teaching a course at the Arvon Foundation next year, but I don't think details are available for that just yet. 

And I'll be in Australia Feb/March 2010, so more details as they become available, too!

 

They just sort of backed up all at once.  Some are conference or school only; the ones open to the public are marked:

Saturday, 4 April 2009, 9.45-10.30am, The Federation of Children's Book Groups Conference

Monday, 20 April 2009, 9.30-10.30am, London Book Fair Seminar, with my lovely editor Denise Johnstone-Burt, talking about the editing process.

Wednesday, 22 April 2009, talking to a book group at Lister Community School in Newham who've been kind enough to read The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Sunday, 10 May 2009, 10.00am, Brighton Festival, definitely open to the public, so book now!

14-17 May 2009, Several events in Dublin, including speaking at the Children's Books Ireland Conference, more details of the whole trip soon

19-20 May 2009, trip to Edinburgh, more details soon again.

Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 2.30, Hay Festival, the schedule isn't final yet, it looks like there'll be this solo event and possibly another at 5.30 with other authors; final schedule and public booking tickets start on 10 April.

That's enough for now, but looking ahead, I've got bookings for other festivals later in the year that aren't announceable yet, so keep checking!

In addition to a number of school appearances in the coming weeks, I'm also booked for a couple of festival appearances in the near future:

This Friday, 27 February, LSE Book Festival Weekend, 6pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, tickets free, panel discussion with Anthony MacGowan, Morris Gleitzman, Meg Rosoff and Elizabeth Laird.

The Brighton Festival, 10 May, 12noon, The Old Market, £5, in conversation with Laura Atkins.  Should be good fun, reading and signing, etc.

Lots more to come once they're official.

 

Well, there are a number, including Brighton Festival, Edinburgh Festival and the Bath Children's Festival throughout the year, and I'll also be touring Ireland, but instead of flooding you with them now, I'll update them as they approach and just list one for now, which is:

The London School of Economics Literary Weekend, 27th February, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE, 6-7.15pm, where I'll be on a panel with, among others, Meg Rosoff and Anthony MacGowan talking about 'Creative Responses to Social Realities', including a prize-giving to local teenage writers.  Ticket information is here.

More to come for 2009...

Two new November 2008 events to add:

17 November, UCS Beyond Words Festival at 11.20am.  A most excellent festival run by University College School, see the website for more details.

29 November, as part of Manchester's Big Science Read, I'll be at Bury Central Library at 1pm, in a discussion with Katherine Beacon about Knife of Never Letting Go and aboud dystopias, I believe.  Should be very interesting.