Whitsunday Anglican School Celeber Drive, North Yuwibara (North Mackay), Yau’ar-nga’ri (QLD)
Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival: Lisa Fuller, Nick Earls and Peter Carnavas
The Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival is a signature event on the Mackay educational calendar. Now in its 20th year, it has become the largest of its kind north of the Sunshine Coast.
Whitsunday Voices has been running since 2004 and every year attracts a growing number of enthusiastic attendees who participate in up to 80 activities, including book talks, workshops, performances and author signings.
The Festival is renowned as a valuable source of quality, fun-based learning, as well as a cultural experience unmatched in the region.Held in July each year, Whitsunday Voices is a three-day celebration of reading, writing and creative thinking.
It provides a unique opportunity for students, teachers and residents in and around Mackay to experience a literary and cultural event not normally available outside major metropolitan centres.
UQP author session and workshops
Lisa Fuller
Grades 9 – 12
Lisa Fuller is a Wuilli Wuilli woman who lives in Ngunnawal lands (Canberra), where she is currently completing her PhD in Creative Writing. Lisa is an award-winning writer, seasonal academic, freelance writer, editor and literary agent. Her debut YA novel, Ghost Bird, is a gritty and intense story that shares strong indigenous connections, and won multiple awards, including the Queensland Literary Award’s Griffith University Young Adult Book Award and the CBCA Honour Book. Lisa loves a battle with her inner critic and will show our upper grades how to deal with that voice by getting hands-on. With an extensive writing toolkit to share, Lisa is a champion for her culture and how to write the stories within it.
Sessions
129 Thursday 11 July 12.15pm – Grades 9-12
139 Thursday 11 July 1.30pm – Grades 9-12
208 Friday 12 July 9.15am – Grades 9-12
238 Friday 12 July 1.30pm – Grades 9-12
Workshops
120 Thursday 11 July 10.45am – Grades 9-12 (Sr Writer’s Workshop)
221 Friday 12 July 10.45am – Grades 9-12 (Sr Writer’s Workshop)
WRITER’S WORKSHOP: Writing by the Seat of your Pants
What’s a pantser? And why do so many authors talk about pantsing versus plotting? Lisa takes you through her writing process, what works for her and gets you testing it out for yourselves. From the germ of an idea through to editing your first draft and having fun doing it.
Nick Earls
Grades 4 – 12
Nick Earls is an international best-selling author of 28 books for adults, teenagers and children. Five of his books have been adapted into stage plays and two into feature films. His most recent book is the novel Empires.
In his entertaining and energetic session for middle grades, Nick poses the questions…Where do our words come from? Why do we spell them the way we do? Why is English the weird and complicated language it is? This talk introduces Lexi and Al from Nicks’ Word Hunters books, and gives students the tools to be word hunters themselves with a new way of thinking about language and how it works, including the evolution of language and the factors behind it.
For senior grades Nick poses the question ‘Why, when we have so many options, should we make room for the recreational reading of fiction in our lives?’ Nick Earls takes a journey through his own reading history and its impact on his writing, looking at how reading works and why we should be doing it.
Sessions
104 Thursday 11 July 9.15am – Grades 4-6
119 Thursday 11 July 10.45am – Grades 9-12
124 Thursday 11 July 12.15pm – Grades 4-6
204 Friday 12 July 9.15am – Grades 4-6
219 Friday 12 July 10.45am – Grades 9-12
225 Friday 12 July 12.15pm – Grades 4-6
Peter Carnavas
Prep – Grade 6
Peter has written and illustrated over 20 children’s books and novels, including My Brother Ben, The Elephant and A Quiet Girl, which have been published worldwide. His works have attracted many awards, most notably the Children’s Book Award at the Queensland Literary Awards, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards as well as the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year.
Peter’s new book, Leo and Ralph, is about a young boy who can’t let go of his imaginary alien friend. In his animated presentation, students will dive into all things space and soccer and discover how Peter dreamt up his best alien friends, Leo and Ralph. These sessions are not to be missed!
Sessions
101 Thursday 11 July 9.15am – Prep-Grade 3
114 Thursday 11 July 10.45am – Grades 4-6
134 Thursday 11 July 1.30pm – Grades 3-5
215 Friday 12 July 10.45am – Grades 4-6
222 Friday 12 July 12.15pm – Grades P-3
234 Friday 12 July 1.30pm – Grades 4-6