Emerging Writers Festival 21 - 30 May 2010

pic: Jenna, Lachlan and Bernard

PIGEONS AT THE FESTIVAL. The Melbourne Town Hall opened its doors to storymakers of all kinds imaginable for the Emerging Writers Festival 2010. The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) exists to promote the interests of emerging writers – to improve their opportunities for professional development and their engagement with the broader public.Events included topics like The Pitch, Two Sides of the Coin, Style Vs Substance and Mining the Personal. I was drawn to rising early on Saturday morning and training in to hear Jenna Williams and Lachlan Carter in conversation with Bernard Caleo. The topic was The Pigeons Project. Jenna and Lachlan founded Pigeons in 2009 - a community group dedicated to assisting children in improving their literacy skills and developing a passion for reading and writing. By offering project-based learning activities in line with teacher needs and curriculum objectives, Pigeons aims to cultivate creative partnerships between local public schools, authors and artists. Last year I was involved with the inaugural project at North Melbourne Primary School along with twelve other authors. The coup has now grown to twenty and we will be working this year with a class at Footscray City PS. Please visit the Pigeons website and learn how you can become involved with a remarkable team of creatives. http://pigeonsprojects.org/

Pic: Bernard Caleo and Jen Breach. Bernard makes comics ie. he writes draws, collaborates, edits and publishes comics. He teaches, preaches and takes comic classes. http://cardigancomics.com/

Here is Bernard at the EWF with Jen Breach also a comic maker http://sawbonesonline.com/

Bernard and Jen are also supporters of Pigeons.