Write Away With Me: holiday master classes July 2013

Write Away With Me offered writing  master classes during the July school holidays. 

Organised to perfection by Beth Cregan and her team of helpers, the day went without a hitch.

The participants were motivated, creative and highly energetic.

Between two two of us, Adam Wallace and myself, we wrangled and were wrangled by students aged 7 - 13 and from schools all around Melbourne.

These young people are articulate and imaginative and keen to write the next best seller. Our Australian literary future is in good hands.

Thank Beth for inviting me on board ... 

Beth also does adult story sessions as well as offering programs in schools and during the holidays. 

I met Beth through Storytelling Australia (Victoria) .. there are so many good reasons to join networks that support your interest and practice.

Lyrebird! A true story has been short listed by the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2013

BREAKING NEWS … Lyrebird! A true story has been short listed by the Children’s Book Council of Australia for the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books. 

This is a wonderful acknowledgement of the word wrangling, research, design and illustrating that has gone into creating a book for children. It takes a team: Peter Gouldthorpe (illustrator), Melanie Raymond (Museum Victoria Publishing), Nan McNab (editor), Elizabeth Dias (design) … take a bow! We all wanted to make a book that would delight the imagination, inspire the young to stop, look and listen and of course smell the flowers. 

Being short listed means our book will be delivered into more small hands and read more widely by those for whom it was intended. 

Thank you CBCA. http://cbca.org.au/Shortlist2013.htm

The Adventures of Split-Dog and Ol'Joe. No.1

My little comic book is available at last. This project grew out of my kamishibai storytelling which is related to comic book making.

I developed this Australian tall story several years ago and children have loved it. After begging publishers to help me make it into a comic without success, I decided I would just have to do it myself.

Under the guidance of Bernard Caleo, who does so much to educate wannabes (like me) and promote the very best of our Australian comic book creators, I finally have my own little book.

The Adventures of Split-Dog and Ol'Joe. No.1 is ten pages.
Cost: $2.00 (not including postage), so why not buy a dozen.
Order by email: jackie@jackiekerin.com.au

Check out Bernard's website. As well as his recent publications there is information about the documentary Graphic Novels Melbourne.

Melbournians - be proud! We have some amazing authors.

Swapping kamishibai stories over the internet 2013

Thanks to the internet, I have storytelling friends around the world who I can chat to on skype, share stuff on facebook, email, blog ...

How quickly we adapt. It seems unimaginable that once my storytelling community was limited to friends in Australia. 

In the past few weeks I've exchanged news with storytelling mates in Italy, Hawaii, Portugal and this morning I was chatting on skype with Kamishibai mate Derek Carpenter (aka Bo the Clown) who lives in the UK.

Derek and I have made a habit of swapping Kamishibai stories via jpegs. In this picture you can see my story, Tengu Tale (propped against my computer) and on the screen you can see Derek holding up his copy, downloaded and printed on the other side of the world!

You can read about Derek's adventures with Kamishibai here

And here he is in action ...

Congratulations Patricia Mullins. Dromkeen Medal 2013

The Dromkeen medal is awarded annually to an Australian citizen in recognition of their contribution to the appreciation and development of children's literature in Australia.

There could be no worthier recipient than Patricia Mullins who has both created and collaborated with authors to produce almost thirty beautiful picture books.

pic: Patricia Mullins and Sue Roberts (CEO of the State Library of Victoria and State Librarian) 

I'm grateful to Patricia that she took on the task of illustrating Phar Lap the wonder horse. Her commitment to the truth of the story was remarkable. Patricia has a particular skill with paper collage and the images of Phar Lap, particularly the foal, have melted many hearts.

Congratulations Patricia.

Delivering Books In Homes 2013

 This morning I was up at 5.45 am and on the road by 7.00. It takes an early start if you want to beat the traffic gridlocks that choke Melbourne roads during the working week.

My destination was a primary school in the northern suburbs where the teachers and children are  celebrating books and reading. 

The school I was visiting participates in a program called Books In Homes.

Books in Homes is about empowering children and families living in disadvantaged circumstances in Australia by inspiring a love of reading.

The celebrations began with some spirited storytelling and closed with each child being given a bag of three books which they had selected themselves at an earlier time. 

One of the teachers kindly took some photos for me.  I love the children's faces in the thrall of the story. Then later on, when they received their books, their delight was infectious. Some clearly couldn't believe that the books they had chosen had finally come to them and with their names clearly written on the covers. 

Newport Lakes Community Bush Dance 2013

My Folk Club (the Newport Fiddle and Folk Club) organisers an annual bush dance at the end of summer. It takes place in a park that was once a quarry and a tip. But 30 years ago, the people took it on and have transformed the landscape into a piece of urban bushland alive with birds and wild flowers.

Club musicians, storytellers, dance callers and face painters all pitch in to create an event that just gets better every year.

Can you believe that this is only 12 ks from the CBD? When I arrived I disturbed a party of honey eaters. They are well catered for at the moment with all the flowering gums.