We are delighted to announce that Professor Gervase Phinn has agreed to be the next President of the School Library Association. In his acceptance letter, Gervase wrote of how honoured he was to accept the position, and to follow in the steps of Aidan Chambers, someone who he had known and admired for many years. Gervase will take over from Aidan at the SLA’s Weekend Course in Bath (23rd-25th June), and as a lifelong supporter of school libraries, will continue the work done by Aidan in raising the profile of the Association, and of school libraries in general.
Gervase Phinn taught in a range of schools for fourteen years before becoming an education adviser and school inspector. He is now a freelance lecturer, broadcaster and writer, a consultant for the Open University, Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, York and the Fellow and Visiting Professor of Education at The University of Teesside. He has published many articles, chapters and books and edited a wide range of poetry and short story collections. His academic texts include: Young Readers and their Books, published by David Fulton, Touches of Beauty: Poetry in the Primary School and Reading Matters (both Roselea Publications). Additionally he has published collections of his own plays, poems, picture books and short stories, including his anthologies of verse: Classroom Creatures (Roselea Publications), It Takes One to Know One, The Day Our Teacher Went Batty and Family Phantoms (all Puffin).His books of stories for children, What's the Matter, Royston Knapper? and Royston Knapper: The Return of the Rogue were published by Child's Play, along with the picture book Our Cat Cuddles.
Gervase is probably best known for his best-selling autobiographical novels: The Other Side of the Dale, Over Hill and Dale and Head Over Heels in the Dales, and Up and Down in the Dales, all published by Michael Joseph. Head Over Heels in the Dales was a number one bestseller. Television and radio appearances include Esther (BBC 1), Midweek (Radio 4), You and Yours (Radio 4), Quote-Unquote (Radio 4), Look North (BBC 1), and Book of the Week (Radio 4).
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Honorary Fellow of the English Speaking Board, he has a particular interest in children's reading and is widely known as a lively and entertaining speaker. He is married with four grown-up children, and lives near Doncaster.
As the TES wrote: ‘Gervase Phinn is one of the most accomplished public speakers of any kind. A natural storyteller, he combines the timing of the professional comedian with palpable warmth and the ability to deliver a message that is just more than just a series of jokes’. I am sure SLA members will be delighted that school libraries will now be an even bigger part of that message.
- Gervase Phinn’s website is http://www.gervase-phinn.com.
