All boys. All boarding. Grades 9-12.

Charlie Lovett ’80 Visits Woodberry Forest

Charlie Lovett ’80, the bestselling author of The Bookman's Tale and First Impressions, two literary-themed novels, visited Woodberry Forest School on April 22, 2015. Invited by English department chair Ted Blain, Charlie spoke to several classes, some of which had been assigned his first novel, a mystery about Shakespeare's true identity.

To illustrate a lesson surrounding The Bookman's Tale, Charlie showed students a typewritten and red-penned paper he had written for Woodberry teacher Pat Bassett. When he took questions, one boy asked whether Charlie planned to write a book set at Woodberry Forest. While the writer made no such promise, the question led to a discussion of the rich literary tradition of the boarding school novel.

Charlie remembered several Woodberry influences that led to his current success as a writer. "We didn't do much creative writing in English class," he said, "but my Algebra II teacher required us to write a paper every two weeks. I would write little mystery stories that could be solved by figuring out a math equation." But he credits his trimester with Richard and Wendy MacKenzie's Woodberry in Britain program with sparking his interest in England and Shakespeare. "Without the MacKenzies, The Bookman's Tale wouldn't exist," said the part-time resident of England's Cotswolds.
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