AUTHORS will be visiting local secondary schools as part of a new scheme which aims to get young people excited about writing.

First Story will see local authors help pupils to create short stories and poems.

The scheme is the creation of William Fiennes, 39, bestselling author of The Snow Geese and The Music Room, and former teacher Katie Waldegrave, 29, both from London.

Authors already involved locally are Jon McGregor, Nicola Monaghan, Clare Brown and Kevin Fegan, who will each be a writer in residence at one of the local schools and eventually help the pupils produce their own book of short stories.

Each author will be allocated a school and from this September will spend a year tutoring a group of pupils.

Local schools taking part are Nottingham University Samworth Academy, in Bilborough; Ellis Guilford, in Basford, and Nottingham Academy, in Sneinton and Bakersfield, where there will be two residencies.

Nottingham will be the third city where First Story will be established. The scheme has been run in London and Oxford and is said to have had positive results.

Katie said: "Nottingham has a strong culture of really great writers and the schools also fit the criteria we want to work in – schools that are quite challenging.

"We want to do First Story in schools where it will really thrive and the schools we've chosen are all doing really positive things."

The authors work with small groups of about 15 to 20 pupils and it's up to the school to select which children take part.

Katie said: "Some schools have used it for their gifted and talented students, while others want to target boys."

William and Katie have also seen the scheme work successfully with pupils who have previously been excluded for bad behaviour.

William, who was the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year in 2003, has been a writer in residence at several schools.

He said: "In terms of quality of writing it's very hard to tell who are the gifted and talented students and who are the ones going off the rails.

"I really love doing it and I think they gain a sense that their lives and their stories are really valuable. They get a real excitement about storytelling, voices, language and how powerful writing can be."

At the end of their year with the author, the pupils will then produce an anthology of work that is edited and introduced by their writer.

First Story is funded by a combination of trusts and foundations, private donors and the schools taking part.

Barry Day, chief executive of Nottingham Academy, explained why the school decided to get its pupils involved.

"One of our specialist subjects is literacy so we are always looking for ways to improve, he said.

"First Story is a great way for them to extend their vocabulary and range of literacy."

William hope to extend First Story to other schools in the county and eventually to other parts of the East Midlands.

For more information on First Story, see the website www.firststory.co.uk.