Latest News

On 7th March Julie once again visited Highcliffe School for World book Day to give a talk on what Christchurch was like in the eighteenth century and undertake two class workshops on places in writing. Julie said: ‘I love working with students at Highcliffe School. They are always interesting and come up with some amazing… Read More

Julie had a great time working with Year 8 students at Highcliffe School following a recent visit to the school. She presented workshops dealing with scene setting. The students heard about choosing real or imaginary places for their stories and how to make them come alive for their readers. In two separate sessions pictures were used to describe scenes… Read More

Julie was thrilled to hear that one of her short stories, A Chill in the Air, took third place in the prestigious Society of Women Writers and Journalists (SWWJ) annual John Walter Salver competition. The competition was to write a short story of up to 1,500 words on the theme of weather. The judge was… Read More

Join Julie in a walk over Hengistbury Head and discover why the area was so popular with smugglers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 2pm Thursday 26th October Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre Julie says: ‘I’ve called this walk and talk a smuggler’s panorama as Hengistbury Head is the ideal place to see the coastline,… Read More

A Smugglers’ Child – a talk for children and their families Following on from her talk at last year’s Christchurch Smuggler Festival, Julie will be presenting her talk for families, A Smuggler’s Child, at, Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre on, Wednesday 25th October at 2pm. Julie says: ‘My talk looks at children in Christchurch and surrounding… Read More

Following her successful interview on UK Talk Radio, Julie will be the station’s author of the month for July /August. Julie will also have her own page on the radio’s website. You can see Julie’s  here: http://uktalkradio.org/smuggling-town-mysteries/ and her page: http://uktalkradio.org/business-directory-2/adventure-stories-from-j-a-ratcliffe/ You can listen again to Julie’s interview on both pages.