an internationally-famous author to visit your school, talk entertainingly about his books, provide insights into how he came to write them, share fascinating secrets about his writing methods, speak frankly about his pets, inspire young writers and readers, answer every question you want to ask him without fear or hesitation, sign books, pose for photos, be polite and friendly in the staff room and park his car only where permitted?

The only internationally-famous author available via this site is Morris Gleitzman, but if he'll do, read on.

Morris has been visiting schools for fifteen years and he's getting pretty good at most of the above activities, with the possible exception of the car parking.

There are considerations of time and geography. Like most authors, Morris needs to strike a balance between talking about books and writing them. Most schools who request a visit get one eventually, but sometimes not quite as quickly as hoped. Other times, when Morris has been stuck in his writing room for weeks and is desperate to escape, he can be available almost immediately.

Morris lives in Melbourne and visits Sydney frequently, so geography isn't a problem with either of those places. Elsewhere, distance is a factor. Morris is prepared to visit schools anywhere on the planet, but the further he has to travel, the more significant travel and accommodation costs become. One solution is for several schools in the same city / regional area / arrondissement / remote valley to arrange a cluster of visits, thus inspiring Morris to pay for his own expenses.

Morris does charge a fee for school visits. Details are available from the people below who handle the bookings. The fee varies according to the size of the event, but very few of the schools Morris has been to in the past have had to sell all their library books at the school fete or send their sports teacher off to play for Manchester United to meet the cost.

Morris' school visits in Sydney and New South Wales are handled by Lateral Learning.
Phone: 02 9960 4844
Fax: 02 9960 4811
Mail: PO Box 646, Spit Junction, NSW 2088
Email: bookings@laterallearning.com

Morris' school visits in Melbourne and the rest of Australia are handled by Booked Out.
Phone: 03 9533 6717
Fax: 03 9533 6810
Mail: PO Box 2321, Prahran, VIC 3181
Email: bookings@bookedout.com.au

They'll happily give you any further information
you need.

If your school is in Britain, Morris' school visits there are looked after by Speaking Of Books.
Phone/Fax: 020 8692 4704
Mail: 9 Guildford Grove, Greenwich, London SE10 8JY
Email: jan@speakingofbooks.co.uk

If your school is anywhere else in the world, you'd better contact Morris direct via the Visitor's Page on this site because there'll be a few important things to discuss like airfares and who's going to pay them and travel shots and whether you're prepared to have them for him.