I am a former high school English teacher and lectured in Creative Writing at both Leeds and Glasgow universities. I have appeared extensively in schools as a writer since the publication of my first novel, Boyracers, in 2001, reading from my work and running Creative Writing classes. I don’t take attention spans for granted and try very hard to be as entertaining and stimulating for pupils as possible.

Mainly, I work with senior school secondary pupils (4th-6th year), as my novels tend to be more popular with that age group (don’t worry, I won’t read from Death of a Ladies’ Man)

Increasingly, I’ve been asked to appear in primary schools (p.6-7) and can tailor readings from The Incredible Adam Spark easily to suit this age group.

I also have experience of leading workshops in care units and schools for socially-excluded young people.

Since the publication of my non-fiction book for teenagers, Lads: A Guide to Consent and Respect, in 2023, I have been invited into schools to give talks or lead workshops on the book’s themes: healthy relationships, avoiding toxic masculinity and incel culture, porn and respecting boundaries.

Visit my  page at Learning and Teaching Scotland.

Here are some testimonials from teachers, after a speech I made for the launch of Falkirk District’s Literacy Strategy.

• “Thanks to the inspirational Alan Bissett! What a marvellous speaker.”

• “Hearing him really brought home to me how we must seek ways to reach reluctant readers, especially boys.”

• “The talk from Alan Bissett made me think differently about raising achievement of boys’ reading and writing.”

• “He was inspirational and his presentation was very valuable in terms of the impact of literacy and literature as a means of empowering young people.”

Feel free to contact me on alan@alanbissett.com if you want me to come into your school.