5. Book awards, attending the Children's Book Festival.

 

Author encounters at the Children's Book Festival

 

Sunday at 10.00 am, the front lawn of the State Library of Victoria is abuzz with  didgeridoos, parents and children. I called Heidi, fellow student, who was 'lost' with her children in the Sticky Word Maze. This seemed to be exactly what the festival was all about, getting lost in words and the imagination.

 

 Authors were sharing their stories, through reading, telling, song and dance. Children were creating, designing aliens and crafting words with pen, paper, typewriters, even blocks.





100 Storey Basement, children write stories about objects in the basement.



Creating and sharing stories

What is that machine?

 I was particularly excited to experience first-hand, multi-award winning authors Marsden (Griffith Review, n.d.) and French (The Literature Centre, n.d.; Australian Children's Laureate, n.d.). With craggy face and worn jeans, like a prophet emerging from the desert; Marsden opened with a hard-hitting story of the unfortunate boy whose father would not tolerate his child saying 'um'. This warning about the dangers of paralysing the spirit with rules, set the tone. Although writing and living require rules, these must be transgressed occasionally. Overlooking some grammatical rules, helps in crafting language, thus breathless panic is expressed through incomplete sentences. Other advice from Marsden was "name everything, be specific" because  names "evoke powerful mental images".  "Use you eyes," meaning write what you actually see, reality, not what you would like to see, and so make your writing, "truthful, personal and unique."

 

French performed stories in response to audience questions. Most questions were about her animal stories, and French connected them with history, to challenge accepted narratives. The excerpt below, included with permission from the Wheeler Centre and French, offers a 'goat's eyed' version of Cook's voyage. (Cook only makes it back because of the goat). 

 

I felt that the strongest learning experiences were documenting the festival and the impact of meeting authors. Taking more extensive photographs, would allow the excitement of the event to be conveyed. I need to become more 'trigger-happy' when shooting pictures and not rely on images from the web that can lead to copyright  infringement (Gunelius, 2009, p.87).  

I learned the impact of wonderful authors speaking, through my own reactions and the audience's response. The author's personality adds a dimension to the literature, strengthening the message of the book. Thus French's love for animals was conveyed by the way she imitated an annoying wombat. Her maverick sense of humour combined with seriousness, came across as she told her version of how Queen Victoria's underpants really were of great service to woman's liberation. My daughter felt so special when her book was signed with a message, and has since read five Jacky French books. I was particularly struck by Marsden's message that at the heart of good literature is commitment to writing what you actually see, not what you wish to see (take note those who ban books).

In conclusion, it is difficult to imagine how this festival celebrating authors and readers could have occurred, without the awards, that identify and encourage literary quality and talent. I can apply my learning to professional practice through:

• encouraging author visits, finding author videos,
• valuing books that depict reality.

References

Australian Children's Laureate (n.d.). Jackie French is the Australian Children's Laureate. Retrieved from http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/laureates/jackie-french/
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The Literature Centre. (n.d.). Jackie French. Retrieved from           http://www.thelitcentre.org.au/author/jackie-French

Griffith Review (n.d.). Contributor John Marsden. Retrieved from https://www.griffithreview.com/contributors/john-marsden/

Gunelius, S. (2009). Google blogger for dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing.