It is exactly 20 years since award-winning author and filmmaker Matt Dickinson made a dramatic film of his successful expedition to the summit of Everest, and in ten days’ time he is returning to Nepal as the Writer in Residence to the Jagged Globe 2016 Everest South Col Expedition. He will be filing articles for various UK magazines and news outlets and also blogging updates to about 1,000 schools – ours included! – throughout the UK during the expedition.
Before he heads off to Everest Base Camp however, he has been having a busy couple of days as our Patron of Reading – visiting Middle and Upper School to inspire the boys with his wealth of extraordinary knowledge and fantastic tales of Everest and other extreme environments.
He has discussed the geography of Everest with Year 7, and the science involved in subjecting the human body to extreme climates and altitudes with Year 8. He has helped Year 6 boys edit their short stories, and explained to the boys taking part in the Hatton Creative Writing Prize how books are prepared for publication. On top of all that, last night (Monday) over 100 people – including contingents from Dulwich College and from Kingsdale Foundation School – attended the launch of Matt’s latest book for young people. They listened to some fantastic facts and anecdotes about Everest, tested their knowledge of the mountain in a quiz, and had a chance to buy copies of Matt’s book The Everest Files, and its new companion North Face, hot off the press. For those who weren’t able to attend last night, there are signed copies of both books available to buy in the library.
As you can imagine, both titles are included in this holiday’s reading list for Middle and Upper School. The list was sent out in yesterday’s mailing, and if parents (or boys!) would like to read more about each book listed, the full details can be found here.
