A PROLIFIC Redditch writer is jetting off to the land of the pharoahs to teach children the power of the pen.

Irene Yates will be spending a week in Cairo, Egypt's capital, holding a writing workshop for school children.

She said she was very much looking forward to the trip in October and would be working with children aged seven-11.

"It was quite out of the blue really - but all very exciting," said the Church Hill woman.

"I'll be going to do literary workshops with children and trying to inspire them to write.

''The school where I will be based is doing a focus week on story writing so I'll be talking about things like character, setting, plot and relationships. I will also be doing some work with the staff."

She added: "It'll be an exciting week for the children having a real live author, whose books they've got in school, all the way from England, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get some good work out of them."

Mrs Yates, who is also a warden at St George's Church in Redditch, has penned more than 300 educational books for children as well as teaching resource guides.

She is also a regular face on the writing workshop circuit and later this month will be teaching writing for children at a training event at Caerleon in Wales.