Students at the University Church of England Academy (UCEA) flew the flag for Ellesmere Port in celebration of National Book Week.
The school welcomed author and poet Benjamin Zephaniah and award-winning author Dave Shelton.
During the two-day visit, students had the opportunity to listen, meet, ask questions, and participate in interviews with both of the writers, who read passages from their latest books and talked about their lives and what inspires them to write.
Benjamin Zephaniah thanked everyone at UCEA and commented on the enthusiasm and professionalism of the students in the audience.
He added: “The message I wanted to get across during the visit was that everyone has a story within them. I hope it will encourage students to set pen to paper.”
The iRead Centre manager at UCEA, Jayne Hughes, said: “We were absolutely delighted to accept the invitation to welcome Benjamin Zephaniah and Dave Shelton to the Academy.
“Our students and staff were thrilled to have the opportunity to listen to the authors talking about their work. The students found both authors stimulating and Benjamin highly entertaining.
“Students found Benjamin very inspirational as he talked about his journey from an underprivileged and difficult childhood to his current status as an internationally acclaimed author and poet.”
Many students bought copies of the authors’ latest books, which both authors kindly signed and many more volumes have since been borrowed from the iRead Centre at the Academy.
