GOTHIC writing was the subject of a workshop led by award-winning novelist Sarah Singleton as part of the Swindon Ten Youth Literature Festival.

Sarah, of Chippenham, spoke to more than 100 Greendown School pupils yesterday about the roots of the genre and also helped them to write their own gothic scene.

“It has gone very well. The pupils have engaged and have had lots of ideas and very good questions and some of them have come up with some excellent writing,” she said.

“It has always been a pleasure to meet some of my readers because a lot of my work is on my own at home so it’s good to get some feedback from people who read my books or might read them in the future.”

Sarah, who was a senior reporter at the Advertiser’s sister paper the Gazette and Herald from 1999 to 2006, scooped two national awards in 2005 for her Gothic novel, Century.

Sarah explained what gothic meant, the origins of the genre and its continued presence in modern cultural forms, such as Japanese manga and computer games.

The children were then asked to write a gothic scene by selecting typical gothic characters, places and objects from three lists.

Among the characters on offer were the unforgiving governess, the vampire, and a queen under a terrible curse.

The objects included a blood-stained wedding veil and the places included a tiny chapel, deep in the forrest.

Budding author Courtney Moore, 12, of Walcot, said: “It has been really good because I have never experienced anything like it before.

“The best bit was when the children in class were sharing their ideas that were inspired by Sarah.”

Jessica Garrington, 12, said: “I thought it was interesting to know about the gothic theme and where it actually started off from. I enjoyed doing the writing.”

Resource centre co-ordinator Dawn Hadgraft said the event had gone really well.

“All the kids have been really engaged with it,” she said. “The English class is doing gothic as one of their topics so it works very well with the English curriculum.”

Artist Fred Blunt, of Old Town, also led a workshop at the school as part of the festival.