Events
My most common talk is how a boardgame-loving economist became an author, with some ideas and inspirations for stories set in the future and readings from my latest book.
I can give workshops about various aspects of the writing process, including plot, scriptwriting and book cover design, for children or adults.
Or if you want something more serious, I can talk about the science and politics of water shortages, their relation to climate change and the global economy and how we can fix the problem.
“I highly recommend David as an author visit and especially as an author of dystopian books. He was engaging throughout interspersing excellent readings from his book with details about how he got to be an author, his writing process…” Oakbank Secondary School, March 2024.
‘Wow! David, thanks so much for today – a really engaging talk.” Calday Grange Grammar School, February 2024.
“Even for a seasoned writer, Dave’s workshop have insights and tips to motivate and inspire, whilst being thoughtfully and engagingly delivered.” Workshop on plot at Shoe Lane Library, November 2023
“Your talk was beautifully illustrated and excellently presented. You went into a great deal of detail which held the group’s attention.” Talk on water shortages to Beaconsfield Probus Group, November 2023
“Thank you so much for the workshop yesterday. I got a great deal out of it, and enjoyed the exercises and discussions, together with your helpful advice and observations.” Workshop on scriptwriting, Totnes Writing Group, August 2023
Author talks in action!
2024 events (so far)
In January, I ran two workshops for the Medway & Kent PTI Primary Hub, helping teachers to inspire their pupils’ writing. “Thank you so much for the day, it was really successful.”
In February, I did an online visit to 250 boys from Calday Grange Grammar School.
In March, I did eight talks across five schools during world book week.
Later in the month, I’m doing a session with the graphic design students at Heathermount School about book covers.
I’m also doing talks at Guildford and Horsley libraries on 10th April. Tickets are available here and here. And I’ll be talking to the South Oxon Probus club about economics in June.
2023 events
In May, I gave a talk to the MSc students at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London.
In August, I ran a workshop on scriptwriting for the Totnes Writers group.
In October, I gave a talk on creative writing set in the future to a group of girls in years 5 & 6, centred on my middle-grade debut, Pax & The Missing Head. “The girls thoroughly enjoyed it, thank you so much.”
In November, I gave a talk on water shortages to the Probus group, Beaconsfield.
I also ran a workshop on plotting for the Shoe Lane library in central London.
2022 events
In June, I was the guest speaker at the Surrey Society of Authors monthly lunch.
“We had a great turn out for Tuesday’s lunch and David Barker’s talk on Climate Fiction which was very interesting and well received”
In May, I gave a talk at Silwood Library (Imperial College) on water shortages and writing a trilogy of thrillers set during a world war for water.
“We all felt that the event was a huge success well as everyone seemed reluctant to leave”
2021 events
In November, I gave a talk to the MSc students at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London.
Also that month, the Ascot Writers group held a stall at the David Lloyd Bracknell Xmas fair.
In May, I led an online workshop on plot for Totnes Writers’ group.
In April, I led an online workshop on Show, Don’t Tell for the Wokingham branch of SCBWI.
2020 events
27th February I talked to Tarporley U3A group up in Cheshire on water shortages and climate fiction.
“…have had several people saying how much they enjoyed your talk, so thank you for coming and speaking”
14th March I was guest author at Wokingham Library’s Creative Writing for Teens group.
Sadly the rest of that year’s events were cancelled for reasons we all know about.
2019 events
The official launch party for White Gold was held at Waterstones Trafalgar Square on 15th May.
On 23rd May I gave a talk at Bracknell library .
On 9th July I gave a talk on climate change and cli-fi (i.e. climate fiction) to Virginia Water library.
On 11th July I gave a similar talk to Wokingham library.
On 31st October I appeared at the Bracknell Literary Festival.
On 28th November I was guest speaker at an Imperial College London seminar for its Centre for Environmental Policy students.
2018 events
On 14th March I attended the Marist Senior School careers fair, talking about my life as an author and economist.
On 16th April I gave a TEDxYouth talk at my old school, King’s Chester, to the sixth form.
On 6th May I did a reading at Margate Bookie. The festival ran for the whole bank holiday weekend with lots of cool events. See the full programme here.
On 10th May, the launch party for Rose Gold was held at Waterstones Piccadilly.
On 10th October I judged the Reading Writers‘ Autumn Fiction Challenge. The theme was climate change and there were some wonderful and varied submissions. Was hard to pick a winner…
On 18th November, myself and four other local authors ran a stall at the Sunninghill Victorian Street Fayre. We were blessed with lovely weather and great crowds.
On 10th December I gave a talk to the U3A group in Swaffham about climate change and in particular about water shortages, based on the research I did for Blue Gold.
2017 events
The official launch party for Blue Gold took place on 11th May 2017 at Waterstones Piccadilly and I had a smaller version for local friends at Waterstones Windsor on 13th May. On 2nd June I did a book signing session at Waterstones, Drakes Circus Plymouth, from 11am onwards.
On Thursday 6th July I attended the Thames Water annual Raft Race. We raised funds for WaterAid.
On Monday 10th July I attended the monthly book club at The Bakewell Book Shop, an excellent independent book store in a beautiful part of the country. We had a great discussion about my book and Julie Newman’s Beware The Cuckoo, also published by Urbane.
I did two talks in New York this summer to a gathering of clients at Commonwealth Bank of Australia and at Moore Capital. I explained why water shortages are getting worse, what it’s implications are and what might be done to mitigate the impact. I then described my journey from economist to author and gave some insights into the publication process.
I read from Blue Gold at Vanguard Readings’ on the 20th July, along with some other Urbane authors. These excellent monthly gatherings at the Pelican in Peckham – they are always enjoyable and nourishing. Third Thursday of (nearly) every month.
I did a lunchtime talk to the girls at the Marist Senior School on my career as an economist and writer as well as climate change and my debut cli-fi novel. That was a lot to pack into a half-hour session!
I took part in the November meeting of the Riff-Raff, a fantastic monthly London book event run by the lovely Amy Baker and Rosy Edwards, at Effra Social just between Brixton and Herne Hill.
I attended the Sunningdale Christmas Market along with four other local authors, signing books. We represented a range of genres: picture books, rom-com, historical, cli-fi and more!