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Ages 9+

Award-winning author of children’s books Lauren St John and actress and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna, both supporters of the Born Free Foundation, talk to the festival’s consultant director of the young people’s programme Nicolette Jones about how animals have inspired them.

Animals have inspired St John in her writing, particularly in her White Giraffe series and One Dollar Horse trilogy. Her latest book in the One Dollar Horse trilogy is Fire Storm. Dead Man’s Lives, the first in a new trilogy featuring 11-year-old detective Laura Marlin, won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award. St John is an ambassador for the Born Free Foundation.

McKenna is best known for playing the role of Joy Adamson in the true-life film, Born Free, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She played opposite her husband Bill Travers as George Adamson, and the experience inspired them to become active wildlife supporters and campaigners for the protection of wild habitats. They founded Zoo Check in 1984, which later became the Born Free Foundation. She still performs as an actress but is most active in the animal welfare movement. Her autobiography, The Life in My Years, was published in 2009.