Workshops and Readings for Schools and Libraries

I'm very happy to do readings and workshops for schools, libraries, festivals and book groups — online, or in-person when possible. Please drop me a line via my Contact page if you’re interested. My events archive shows the variety of festivals I’ve taken part in around the world and some of the teaching I’ve done.

I've given numerous readings and one- and two-day workshops around the UK, at universities like Cambridge and York, and at various schools including St Lawrence College, Ramsgate; Merchant Taylors, Middlesex; St Edmund's College, Herts; Rickmansworth School, Hertfordshire; Hadden Park High School, Nottingham; and The Nottingham Academy.

My poem ‘Plenty’ from A Fold in the Map is on the IGCSE exam syllabus and I am happy to talk to students about this and poetry and publishing in general. I also do online school visits and have spoken to schools via Zoom and Teams as far afield as Cannon’s Creek in Cape Town and St Hilda’s, Bartolomé Mitre Day School and St George’s College North in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I was a judge for the Poetry for Life schools competition at the Franschhoek Literary Festival in 2015 and have been a Mentor for the Rebecca Swift Foundation Women Poets’ Prize in 2018/19 and again in 2020/21.

For more details and queries regarding future school visits, use the Contact Me page on this website.

Some feedback:

‘Isobel ‘visited’ Christ’s Hospital school via Teams in mid-pandemic 2020. It was a wonderful event. Although the original idea was to hold a very short reading and discussion of ‘Plenty’, her poem on the Cambridge IGCSE syllabus, this expanded into an hour, with a beautifully paced reading and discussion of several poems about Isobel’s family and upbringing and a very warm and generous Q&A. Isobel is a beautiful reader of her own work and her engagement with the students, even virtually, was delightful. Her insights into both the work and the writer’s life were expertly pitched and students and teachers were uplifted.’ – Stephen Walsh, Christ’s Hospital independent school, UK

‘Isobel Dixon shared with us a fabulous virtual meeting in which she read ‘Plenty’, and several other poems which she embedded in a lovely talk about her work and life. Our students just loved her generous and friendly style, and the intimate atmosphere created, in which they felt welcome to interact with Isobel. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both teachers and students at Bartolomé Mitre Day School, in Buenos Aires.’ — Soledad Brava, Bartolomé Mitre Day School, Argentina

‘On Thursday 10th November Isobel Dixon read her work at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate, East Kent. The event was held in the College's Memorial Library and drew a crowd of over thirty pupils, staff and local residents. Isobel's relaxed, measured and intimate reading cast its usual spell and made some new converts. The Headmaster thoroughly enjoyed the evening, as did the day and boarding pupils who joined us. The high point of the recital was Isobel's reading of the 'family' poems from A Fold in the Map, with the ever-powerful 'Meet My Father' an emotive success.

I look forward to the next event — Isobel now having recited on four occasions as a guest of St Lawrence and, previously, Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood. Isobel is a superbly accomplished and lyrically gifted poet and her great specialism is the small group reading to young people. I would urge any Head of English to book her while they still can.’ — Christian Taylor, Head of English, St Lawrence College, UK