Melbourne Writer's Festival

One of the main reasons I moved back to Melbourne was to be more in touch with the literary scene, and through fortunate circumstances of timing, I found myself being offered the opportunity to chair a number of panel sessions at the Melbourne Writer's Festival, representing the Centre for Youth Literature in supporting the Schools Program at the festival.

So, over the last couple of days, I was involved in the following sessions...

Tomorrow, Today with Kirsty Murray

Kirsty spoke about her new novel, "Vulture's Gate" which, I might add, I read recently, and it's a fast-paced, action-packed read, with some very lovely moments of poignancy, and explores an impressive range of themes that she's managed to fit into under 250 pages. Amusing moment: Kirsty asking an audience of teenager what the different between girls and boys were, and watching them either blush or smirk... ah, the awkwardness of youth... ;)

Shakespeare's World with Andy Griffiths and Tony Thompson

WIth a full audience in the cavernous space of The BMW Edge, the first thing I noticed when looking at the crowd was the range of students from 8 to 18. However, just as Shakespeare is, as Ben Johnson stated "for all time", then Andy Griffiths and Tony Thompson were for all ages. and what ensued was a delightful-yet-informative glimpse at the blatant violence and blatant silliness that can be found in Shakespeare, which is vital in keeping its hold in the English Canon.

Fitting In with Randa Abdel-Fattah

Speaking to an intimate, yet full, room, Randa talked about growing up as a palestinian-muslim teenager, and how her books explored the issues of identity, and provided characters that broke the unfortunate stereotype that has been present in the media - such as the "muslim women must be oppressed if they wear the veil" and "all muslims must be terrorists" misconceptions. We also chatted about her life, muslim portrayal in the media, and the emergence of the "burqini" at the beach.

Place, In Space with Scott Westerfeld and Anthony Eaton

Making the most of the ACMI cinema space, both writers presented imagery of the settings for their novels - Anthony's "Into White Silence" and Scott's upcoming "Leviathan". What ensued was a captivating adventure through other worlds, both real and imagined, and the ways in which the landscape really becomes a character in itself when writing.

Blogging, Nerds, and the Art of Cool with Andrew McDonald

Finally, Andrew and I spent the session with a meandering conversation about his book, and the world of blogging, online communities, fandom, the dangers of spreading lies on blogs, and how to not become an internet celebrity. Amusing moment: I made the comment that, unlike these days, I remember a time when Doctor Who wasn't cool, to which most of the audience mumbled "It's not!" *sigh*

I've had some fantastic time chatting on stage with writers, and I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time tomorrow attending the festival as an audience member.

So, dear readers, have you had a chance to attend anything at the Melbourne Writer's Festival yet? Are there any highlights that you've had, or that you're looking forward to? Leave comments! :)

Book Idol!

It's been an action-packed week for children's and young adult literature, with the Inky Awards being launched on Thursday Night, the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards being announced the Melbourne Writer's Festival also kicking off on Friday, and Kirsty Murray's latest novel, Vulture's Gate, launched today. Next week promises to also be action packed, with appearances at the Melbourne Writers Festival by Scott Westerfeld, China Mieville, Andy Griffiths, Morris Gleitzman, Anthony Eaton, Isobelle Carmody, Melina Marchetta, Justine Larbalestier, Kirsty Murray, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Simmone Howell, Alice Pung, Julia Lawrinson, Gabrielle Wang, and many others whose names I can't recall right now, but deserve mention. Exciting times in Melbourne...

However, over at the City of Boroondara Library Service, there have been a series of children's literature events, which culminated last Tuesday in "Book Idol" where young readers were able to vote for their favourite children's book. Now, it's one thing for a panel of experts to judge the excellence of children's literature, but the true test ultimately lies with the readers, and here are the results...

1st. Once, Morris Gleitzman

2nd. The graveyard book, Neil Gaiman

3rd. The Dark is rising, Susan Cooper

4th. The arrival, Shaun Tan

5th. Amelia Dee and the peacock lamp, Odo Hirsch

6th. A rose for the ANZAC boys, Jackie French

Equal 7th. Wish pony, Catherine Bateson & Evil genius, Catherine Junks

Equal 9th. Dragonkeeper, Carole WIlkinson & A ghost in my suitcase, Gabrielle Wang

It's great to see a line-up of almost all Australian authors... and a pleasant surprise to see The Dark Is Rising up there. It's one of those wonderful books that I personally thought would suffer from being dated but, clearly, still loved by young readers...

Inky Awards launched!

This afternoon, the 2009 Inky Awards were launched!

A veritable crowd of teachers, librarians, students, and readers crammed into an Elluminate online session, to hear esteemed author and 2008 Golden Inky Award winner James Roy speak about the Inky Awards, which was followed by the announcement of the Inkys Longlist.

For those who missed it, you can watch a recording of it here.

Or, if you just want to go straight to the longlist, here it is...

GOLDEN INKY

My Candlelight Novel - Joanne Horniman

Screw Loose - Chris Wheat

Worldshaker - Richard Harland

Two Pearls of Wisdom - Alison Goodman

Everything Beautiful - Simmone Howell

Where the Streets Had a Name - Randa Abdel-Fattah

Broken Glass - Adrian Stirling

Jarvis 24 - David Metzenthen

White Silence - Anthony Eaton

The Beginner’s Guide to Living - Lia Hills


SILVER INKY

The 10pm Question - Kate de Goldi

Girl at Sea - Maureen Johnson

Paper Towns - John Green

Love, Aubrey - Suzanne La Fleur

Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

If I Stay - Gayle Forman

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Ten Mile River - Paul Griffin

Skim - Mariko & Jillian Tamaki

Exposure - Mal Peet

What do you think? Have you read any of the listed titles, and particularly enjoyed any of them? Was there a title that you thought was overlooked? Feel free to leave comments.

The 2009 Inky Awards

Yes, it's that time of the year again... the 2009 Inky Awards!

For the uninitiated, the Inky Awards are Australia's only choice award for young adult literature. Twenty books, published in the previous financial year, are announced as the Inkys Longlist - ten Australian books for the Gold Inky Award, and ten International books for the Silver Inky Award.

Of these books, five from each category will be selected by a panel of judges, and then the voting lines will open, and Australia's teenagers are invited to vote for their favourite book. The book with the most votes wins the Inky Award!

This Thursday, at 1:15pm (AEST), the 2009 Inky Awards will be launched online, and you are welcome to attend! I will be chairing the proceedings, 2008 Gold Inky winning author James Roy will be speaking, and then the 2009 Inky Longlist will be announced.

That sounds great, but how do I attend the launch?

I'm glad you asked! All you need is a computer with a decent internet connection, a current browser with Java installed, and computer speakers.

Firstly, register your attendance on the form here.

Then, before the day, check your system's compatability here. Click on "Configuration Room" to check that your connection and speakers. The first time that you enter Elluminate, it may take a while to download onto your system (up to about 10 minutes) but it will be much faster next time you log in.

Finally, on Thursday, click the Elluminate link that you were given when you registered. Create a name for your login session, then click "Login".

Then sit back, and enjoy the launch. You can contribute comments to the session by typing in the Chat field.

In the meantime, if you're not sure of what to expect with Elluminate, you can watch a recording of a last year's session, where we discussed the 2008 Inkys, by clicking here.

And if you want to know more about the Inky Awards, check out the Centre for Youth Literature's website, inside a dog.

Hope to see you all there online on Thursday! :)