Testimonials
Isabelle’s workshops for Norfolk & Norwich Festival were incredibly popular – in fact they received the most school workshop bookings the Festival has ever seen! Isabelle is professional, engaging and collaborative. Her workshops were consistent and effective, achieving unique and aspirational experiences for over 1,000 young people in Norfolk.
Tanner Barnes, Participation and Engagement Officer.
Isabelle was a keynote speaker at Girlguiding Norfolk’s WoW (Wonder of Words) Festival. The girls and their leaders absolutely loved her session and she had them in the palm of her hand right from the start. Who knew an ordinary soup ladle could evoke so much in the imagination of our young members? The question and answer session was great – Isabelle knew just how to engage with the girls through her replies to their interesting questions. Thank you Isabelle!
Our girls absolutely loved their workshop and talk today. It was so marvellous to see Isabelle weave her stories to an enraptured audience hanging on her every word.
Isabelle visited Brooklands as part of our Making a Difference Day when we also had some local school children visiting. Her tale of the Norwich Snap Dragon had the children enthralled. Local history came to Brooklands on that afternoon, the residents thoroughly enjoyed the events and I for one shall remember that day for many years to come which was largely due to Isabelle’s contribution. I certainly believe that other care homes would enjoy a visit from Isabelle and her storytelling, as her personality, enthusiasm and ability to make the whole thing enjoyable for all is worth every penny.” Administrator. Brooklands Care Home.
Isabelle is a kind, thoughtful and inspiring tutor, and with her guidance the group was able to produce some really great work. Chris Tracy (Archive Specialist, Norfolk Heritage Centre).
I have worked with Isabelle since February 2014 when one of our Eccles British Library Writers in Residence introduced Isabelle to the Eccles Centre. Isabelle brought us a proposal to run a free event for aspiring writers as part of her existing Books Talk Back event series. I was extremely impressed by Isabelle’s commitment and professionalism throughout the event planning and delivery. She ran the event beautifully: she provided me with text and images in a timely manner, handled the recruitment of speakers and managed the guest-list single-handed. She was a delight to work with, always positive, cheerful and quick to respond. On the evening of the event she chaired the discussion with an easy and engaging style, which produced an excellent dialogue with the established author and solicited supportive feedback from the audience for the new writers who read out their work.
Dr Cara Rodway
The Eccles Centre for American Studies, The British Library
“Isabelle was commissioned by Writers’ Centre Norwich to devise a free family crime trail for children and parents to take part in during Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, in September 2016. She was fully responsible for writing the storyline, choosing and liaising with the locations involved, and designing the clues and props for the event. She was also on-hand at the final clue location all weekend to meet families and troubleshoot any queries. Isabelle is full of great ideas and very dependable and easy to work with, making her a real asset to the Noirwich team. The trail was pitched at the perfect level for children and feedback for the event was very positive.” –
Steph McKenna, Communications Officer at the National Centre for Writing