Newcastle Writers Festival Family Fun Day 2017

I'm on a high this evening after just finishing my MC role at the NWF Family Fun Day.

What a day! The sun was shining (thank goodness after all the rain over the last few weeks!) and people came from everywhere to help us celebrate books, reading, story telling and illustrating.

I had spent weeks making sure I had written every guest a very personalised introduction. I'd made sure I knew all the equipment that was needed. I'd checked the sound and the visuals. And finally I made sure the volunteers knew where and how they were needed most. I wanted to make sure everything was as perfect as it could be for everyone.

And I'm proud and honoured to say it was a HUGE success!

The day started with local illustrators Liz Anelli, Gwynne Jones, and Kirrili Lonergan making a new picture book live on stage - a world exclusive! Even though it can take 12 months to illustrate a picture book, these ladies nailed it in 30 minutes. Kids helped contribute collage pieces to the production and the overall result was amazing. What clever ladies!

Newcastle Region Libraries had amazing craft activities set up just outside the marquee so children could wandering in and out and use their creative juices to contribute to a large illustration which will be displayed at the library after the festival.

Next, John 'Stinker' Clarke shared personal stories that helped contribute to his debut children's story, 'The Adventures of Stinker and Stinkpot'. John was funny, educational and very engaging.

My heart skipped a beat when our next guest entered the marquee - the extremely inspiring Jackie French. Jackie and I had met earlier in the Green Room and I was delighted with how she loved coming back to Newcastle and re-experiencing its industrial flavour. We chatted about our mesmerising harbour as she signed some books for me. She even asked me if we could have a selfie! Of course I accepted. She may post that photo on her social media later.

Jackie won hearts and minds in the marquee as she talked about wombats and more wombats. She dramatically read, 'Diary of a Wombat' and then chatted about the pleasure of reading. She had the audience in the palm of her hands.

My heart skipped several beats when our next guest, Richard Roxburgh, visited our space. We were madly setting up clipboards, paper and textas so the kids could draw along with him. Richard drew some of the characters from his new children's book, 'Artie and the Grime Wave'. He was very engaging - you could hear a pin drop in the room. I think Richard would have stayed drawing with the kids all day if we could have let him. I heard a rumour all his books in the festival bookshop sold out too.

Nick Earls was up next and had a hard act to follow - but he nailed it. He shared the origins of several words inspired by his research for his 'Word Hunters' series. It is based on twins Lexi and Al Hunter who find an old dictionary and then their world as they know it changes forever.

The Newcastle Youth Orchestra entertained us next with beautiful orchestral music. The people involved in the orchestra are aged between 10-25 years. Their talent and music filled our marquee with delight - we were in awe :)

And lucky last, Professor Francesca Falconette (Nadia Sunde) had an amazing time entertaining children as we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potter book. Professor Falconette (Professor Frankie for short) was funny, engaging and made every child feel important and special. It was the most perfect way to end such a beautiful day.

Congratulations to everyone involved in making the NWF Family Fun Day come alive. Without every piece of the puzzle it would not have come together so beautifully.

I have heard a rumour late this afternoon there is a very high chance the Family Fun Day will be back next year and I will be the first person to jump on board and help make it happen.

The Newcastle Writers Festival and Schools Program 2017

The 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival is almost here. The main program will be held Friday, 7th April until Sunday, 9th April in the Civic Precinct. 

The program was launched on Friday, 24th February in the Lovett Gallery of Newcastle Library by festival director, Rosemarie Milson. Everyone behind the scenes was very excited to launch the program for this 5th festival. What a milestone!

Full program can be found here.

As a part of the Main Program, the festival will also be hosting a Family Fun Day on Saturday, 8th April in Wheeler Place, next to Town Hall from 10am. 

Visiting children's book creators include Jackie French (Diary of a Wombat series), Richard Roxburgh (Artie and the Grime Wave), and Nick Earls (Word Hunters series). How exciting!

We will also be hosting local creators including illustrators; Kirrili Lonergan, Liz Anelli, and Gwynne Jones, as well as story teller John 'Sinker' Clarke.

The Newcastle Youth Orchestra will also present a special performance linked with the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter.

I have the privilege of being the MC for this amazing event - I AM SO EXCITED! Block out your diaries and come into town.

The Newcastle Region Libraries will also be hosting a Schools Program to compliment the festival. 

Visiting book creators are coming from all over the country to spend time inspiring school aged children from around the Hunter and surrounding areas.

Jacqueline Harvey will be the guest speaker at a High Tea held at Wallsend Library on Tuesday, 28th April. Booking can be made here.

Then on Wednesday, 29th and Thursday, 30th of April, our town will be invaded by book creators such as Michael Wagner (Maxx Rumble series), Louise Park (Zac Power series), George Ivanoff (You Choose series), Jack Heath (Countdown to Danger series), Jacqueline Harvey (Alice Miranda series), and John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice series). To have all these amazing authors in the one place at the same time is an extremely rare event. We are very lucky.

The Schools Program can be found here.

I'll be in and around the Schools Program volunteering and soaking up the inspiration. Hope to see you there!

Book Week Celebrations 2016

Congratulations to all the libraries, schools, playgroups, teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators, storytellers, publishers and crazy book lovers for celebrating 'Australia: Story Country!' in a profound way last week. What fun was had across our amazing country! It makes me so proud to be part of the Children's Book Council of Australia. 

It also makes me proud to be a children's author. Helping to make top quality children's literature and promote reading in my local area and beyond is so rewarding.

I celebrated Book Week this year in a way I never had before. You see, this was my first Book Week as a published author. Previously I had celebrated it in my classroom as a teacher and with my children as a mother. Being with your readership as they tell you why they love your book (beyond it's initial layer) is a magical moment. Children are such clever creatures!

My experiences last week were many and varied but all of them were rich and fulfilling. It's experiences like the ones below that keep me fresh and inspired.

Digital Story Writing Workshops with Newcastle Region Libraries

Classrooms are such busy places. Together with Newcastle Region Libraries and Julie Swane, we thought we'd offer story writing with a difference to extend the experiences offered in the classroom - in digital form using the program, 'Storybird' .

Across three after-school workshops involving children from Year 2 to Year 6, we introduced 'Storybird'. This program offers a platform to build stories into published books using images within the program. The children could use these images to spark story ideas. We discussed how this is actually the opposite way to how most children's authors work. The stories created during these workshops were amazing. The next generation of authors are fabulous!

Author/Illustrator visit to MacKillop Catholic College, Warnervale

Kirrili and I were very excited to be asked to celebrate Book Week with all the students from Kindergarten to Year 4 attending MacKillop Catholic College in Warnervale (on the Central Coast).

Young budding authors and illustrators were very excited to hear about our love of children's literature. The children were a delight while we read 'Dandelions', discussed its themes and demonstrated how Kirrili designed the illustrations. When we left, children could be seen continuing to draw dandelions and hot air balloons in the playground. We certainly touched those children in a profound way. What joy!

Jeannie Baker talk and exhibition of original 'Circle' collages

We were so lucky to have Jeannie Baker at the Newcastle Museum during Book Week to discuss her work, 'Circle'. (It was very similar to her inspiring talk at the CBCA Conference earlier this year.)

Jeannie discussed her research journey as she studied the images she needed to build into collages for the amazing story of this shorebird, the bar-tailed godwit.

Here are a few photos of some of her collages. I don't want to show you too many but just a taste of her brilliance. Her chosen media and intricate work is mind-blowing. If you can get a glimpse of her work, it's a must!

Jeannie stayed to sign books and answer any questions privately. A softly spoken and beautiful person.

Book Week Dress-Up Disco

My children's school combined it's annual disco with Book Week celebrations this year. The students could dress-up as an Australian book character or an Australian olympian to attend  the disco.

My daughter dressed up as 'Jill' from the Treehouse series by the creative dynamic duo, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. She had a sign explaining this as Jill wears very ordinary clothes. We discovered Jill wears lots of purple on the covers but we didn't have any purple in the wardrobe. Her handbag was stuffed with animals and she wore shiny disco shoes to finish off the outfit perfectly. Not too bad for using only items already in the house. (I don't do dressing up very well so my kids usually have to design their own costumes for these occasions).

My son dressed up as a soccer olympian. Too easy from my end but hence why he is not photographed in a post about Book Week!

To my surprise, one for the students from Year 1 in our school dressed up as the little girl from 'Dandelions'. This just tickled me pink! But I never got to see her due to my workshop commitments :( (I had completed an author talk with them a week earlier.)

I thoroughly enjoyed following my fellow authors and illustrators on social media last week as they celebrated Book Week across the country. So many things happened and so many kids, schools, teachers, parents, and libraries were involved.

Congratulations to everyone who planned events or participated in them. I'm sure kids everywhere will remember these experiences for years to come.