British Author Ross Welford Visits Suncity School 37D
“Would you want to live for a thousand years?” It was one of several intriguing questions that emerged during the author's interaction with students.
A book that appeared inside a bag, a number predicted before it was chosen, and a glass of water that refused to spill. British author Ross Welford had more than a few surprises in store for students during his visit to Suncity School 37D.
The interaction, attended by Ms Nandini Singh, Co-founder of Suncity School, and Ms Jayshree Patel, Principal, began with a presentation introducing Welford and his literary works, before the author took over with a series of demonstrations.
A student selected Enola Holmes from a catalogue, only to discover the same book inside Welford's ‘Bag of Our Imaginations’. In another demonstration, three volunteers arrived at the number 628, which, to everyone's surprise, was already printed on a membership badge. The final experiment involved an inverted glass of water held above a student volunteer's head. Even after the covering card was removed, the water stayed in place.
The question-and-answer session brought out some equally interesting revelations. Asked whether he would choose to live for a thousand years, like the protagonist of The 1,000-Year-Old Boy, Welford admitted that a hundred years would be enough. He would also prefer growing older to remaining eleven indefinitely. Had writing not become his profession, he might have pursued magic or illustration. Of all his fictional worlds, he would most like to enter When We Got Lost in Dreamland, while the Victorian era would be his preferred destination for time travel.
The conversation also turned to the practical side of authorship, with Welford sharing advice on revising and refining a manuscript before publication.
A particularly fitting moment came when Welford was presented with a collection of student-authored picture books from Heritage and Seasons. Having spent the morning discussing his own stories, he was now receiving stories written and illustrated by the young authors of Suncity School.
The visit concluded in the school library, where students gathered for a book-signing session and an opportunity to interact with the author more personally.
For students who had encountered Welford through his novels, the morning offered an opportunity to meet the person behind those stories, ask the questions that reading had prompted, and, perhaps most importantly, share some of their own work with him.
