Seamus Heaney HomePlace welcomes over 150 children for teleportation happenings

On Monday, ‘The Teleportation Technician’ materialised at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy as Fighting Words Belfast welcomed over 150 children from primary schools in Belfast and Dublin, the young authors of this futuristic new tale, to a day of magic and celebration.

Fighting Words Belfast is the creative writing centre for children and young people across Northern Ireland, and in this project they teamed up with Primary 6 pupils from Ballysillan Primary School, Bunscoil Mhic Reachtain, and Wheatfield Primary School in North Belfast along with Elmgrove Primary School and Victoria Park Primary School in East Belfast and, in partnership with Fighting Words, Dublin, with Fourth Class pupils from Scoil Chaitriona and St Vincent’s Girls’ National School from Dublin.

The young authors have worked hard over the past two months and the result is a highly imaginative and original piece of fiction ‘The Teleportation Technician’. Acclaimed author and newly appointed Northern Ireland Children’s Writing Fellow, Myra Zepf, hosted a lively Q&A session with pupils and presented the young authors with their own copy of the fantastical adventure.

Myra Zepf said: "Stories always have their own journeys, but by anyone's standards this one has been remarkable. These young writers have collaborated with friends and strangers alike, within Northern Ireland and cross-border. Today is a chance to celebrate them, their wonderful story and their journey together in making it."

Geraldine Wilkins, Development Officer for Fighting Words Belfast added: “Once again Fighting Words Belfast volunteer mentors and illustrators have sparked these children’s creative imaginations. If anyone would like to find out more about us or volunteering opportunities just go to www.youngatart.co.uk for full details.

The More Crosswords project was made possible with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin.