Stage 3 / Year 5 & 6 | Byron Writers Festival

Join author Zanni Louise for a series of masterclasses where students will learn and experiment with a range of creative writing techniques and genres. Classes are designed to be fun and celebrate the joy of storytelling.

FREE. Registrations essential. This is a year-long program, commencing Term 2, and running until the end of Term 4, 2023.

Term 2 Dates: Thurs 4 May – Thurs 29 June (Fortnightly)
Time: 5 – 6.30pm
Where: Goonellabah Library, 27 Oliver Avenue, Goonellabah
Suitable For: 8 – 12 years

Author of over twenty kids’ books, including bestselling picture book series HumanKind, Zanni Louise writes and draws every day and hopes she will keep going until she’s too old to hold a pen!

anika

Join author, poet, podcaster and journalist Samantha Turnbull for a series of masterclasses where students will learn and experiment with a range of creative writing techniques and genres. Classes are designed to be fun and celebrate the joy of storytelling.

FREE. Registrations essential. This is a year-long program, commencing Term 2, and running until the end of Term 4, 2023.

Term 2 dates: Wed 3 May – Wed 28 June(Fortnightly)
Time: 5 – 6.30pm
Where: Ballina Library, 8 River Street, Ballina
Suitable For: 8 – 13 years

Samantha Turnbull is a children’s author and podcast producer with the ABC. Her books include Fierce Girls, Remember the Rainbows and The Anti-Princess Club series. She is also a qualified primary teacher and loves competing in poetry slams.

anika

A very practical workshop for keen writers aged 10+. Sarah will guide the students in writing exercises to come up with ideas and bring their writing alive. She’ll explore dramatic tension, strong beginnings, setting and character. There will be time for questions and time for some students to read out their work and receive constructive feedback.

**This workshop is adaptable to include stage 2 for small schools.

Sue Andersen

Sam will teach students how to write and perform slam poetry. Please note, this workshop includes video, so an IWB or computer and projector with speakers is required.

Topics covered

Poetry
Performing/public speaking with flair
Self-expression

* Workshops Poetry for the Page and Poetry for the Stage can be combined

Sue Andersen

Sam will show students the steps she followed to write the beautiful poem that features in her picture book Remember the Rainbows. Students will then write their own poetic masterpiece, experimenting with techniques including repetition and rhyme.

Topics covered

Writing from real life
Emotive language
Poetic devices

Sue Andersen

Lucas’ creative writing session highlights the importance of using spontaneity and imagination to create short, fun-filled stories. This quirky format allows the students to experience the joy of writing without worrying about spelling mistakes and perfect grammar. The focus of the session is finding your voice, then expressing it through story.

“Lucas is a treasure personally and culturally. We are really lucky to have someone with his storytelling skills and gift for entertainment to inspire our students. His connection to his heritage and place was very powerful. The staff responses were glowing. I am like the kids; I only wish we could see him more often!” – Pottsville Beach PS, QLD

Topics covered

Finding your writing voice
Imagination and creativity
Writing with joy
Personal and cultural storytelling

Curriculum outcomes

Creative writing
History/culture
Multicultural themes
Performing arts

Sue Andersen

Drawing from her extensive experience in podcasting, Sam will show students how to tell stories for the ears. Students will use weird and wonderful props to create sound effects for broadcast. Students will then use those sounds to inspire and enhance stories crafted specifically to be heard.

Sue Andersen

Sam will teach students how to come up with a cracking story idea, create unique characters, build an escalating plot, and pull it all together to write a bestseller.

Topics covered

Ideas and inspiration
Creating characters
Plotting and planning

Sue Andersen

This workshop uses Laura’s ‘Dream Riders’ horse series as a starting point to explore how grappling with complex or scary feelings – the everyday sort, not the jumping out of a plane sort – can inspire emotionally rich and truthful storytelling. It’s tempting to ignore difficult feelings and ‘put on a happy face’, but shining a light on challenging experiences and feelings can help us develop realistic characters and moving stories which will powerfully connect with others. Laura draws on her extensive experience in running workshops and telling stories for young people to help students tap into where great writing comes from.

Suitable for both keen and reluctant readers/writers.

Topics covered

Discussing favourite book/story characters who experience big feelings
Role playing/role swapping exercises so students can experience different points of view to inform character and story development
Guided individual and group writing exercises for students to ‘put on paper’ what they discovered through role playing and point of view exercises
Student Q and A

Sue Andersen

Using text and verbal cues the students will create creatures/monsters based on myths and legends

Michelle will work with collage as a means for the students to create a creature based on a myth. Students will have a collage resource sheet of various animals and textures from which to construct their interpretation of the creature. They will then be assisted to create a drawing based on their collage and place it in a setting.

Students will be encouraged to make the creature their own in terms of interpretation and embellishment and also to start developing an imagined life for the creature and to illustrate that (ie its habitat, diet, likes and dislikes).

This workshop will encourage students to develop a character from a text and introduce them to using collage as both an illustration means in its own right and as a catalyst for other artworks.

The duration and complexity of this workshop can be adapted to the age group of the intended students.

Topics covered

Mythical Creature collage to the description
Drawing/painting a creature based on the collage
And/or using a combination of collage textures and draw features
Placing the creature in a setting
Character development

Sue Andersen

The outdoors and the outback were the inspiration for CBCA award winning book, Black Cockatoo (Magabala 2018). Hakea takes students through the steps of brainstorming, storyboarding and then finding a way into their short stories by using real life anecdotes from their lives.

Topics covered

Plan for success- Inspiration and narrative arc
Reader hooks- sizzling starts to find ways into the story
Writing engaging characters- dynamic dialogue
Show don’t tell

Curriculum outcomes

Writing and representing
Thinking imaginatively, creatively and interpretatively

Sue Andersen

Hakea-Workshop-2-Beautiful-Night-Picture-Book-Creation-web-rotated.jpg

Reluctant readers and writers? The appeal of writing a book in less than 24 lines might hook your students in for the hour. Hakea guides students through the inspiration, structure, choosing the right words and how to use words and images in tandem to create compelling texts.

This workshop can be modified for Stage 1 & 2 – (1 hr).

Topics covered

Inspiration- unique spin on familiar stories
Narrative arc
Powerful word choices
Visual literacy

Curriculum outcomes

Writing and representing
Thinking imaginatively, creatively and interpretatively

anika

Students will walk away from this workshop with a collection of tools to help them brainstorm ideas, overcome writer’s block and craft interesting stories perfect for Australian readers. They will have a list of story ideas that they can use for future writing in class.

Topics covered

Inspiration and brainstorm techniques
Narrative arc and planning
Sizzling starts
Cool characters

Curriculum outcomes

Writing and representing
Thinking imaginatively, creatively and interpretatively

Sue Andersen

A one-off workshop or multi-session workshop on scriptwriting and filmmaking tailored to suit the students’ interests. Benjamin has also run social justice filmmaking workshops over a term or two in secondary schools, where students work towards creating short films for screening at a mini-festival.

Sue Andersen

Tailored to any upper primary and high school students, Benjamin delivers an inspiring workshop exploring ideas of being a ‘story hunter’, encouraging students to find and develop ideas, understand simple structure to engage readers and above all make writing fun.

anika

Have you ever felt awkward in the presence of a Deaf person or someone with a disability? Not sure what to say? Want to show respect and offer help but at the same time not make a big deal about it or cause offence? This presentation will clarify everything. Despite the fact that 1 in 6 Australians experience some form of hearing loss, most people don’t know how to respond appropriately to deafness. Asphyxia, a Deaf activist, writer and artist, will tell engaging and entertaining stories from her own life, providing insights into Deaf experience.

This presentation is for school classes, and professional development for teachers. Help create an inclusive and respectful culture.

Topics covered

Avoid common mistakes made by hearing people
Identity respectful behaviour versus patronising behaviour
Be the centre of a ripple change through small respectful acts
Change a group culture from exclusive to inclusive
Ask the right (easy!) questions to help raise awareness and reduce oppression

anika

In this autobiographical talk, Asphyxia leafs through some of her own journals, describing her process to express her daily experiences on the page. She explains to participants the steps involved in creating their own unique book from found papers and recycled materials.

Since she was a young girl, Asphyxia has kept a journal – she is passionate about journaling and sees her journal as a daily friend and companion. Asphyxia’s journals are both stunning and inspiring, filled with paint, collage, photos, writing and beautiful papers.

As a Deaf artist, Asphyxia inspires audiences to follow their dreams, whatever their abilities. Through her talk, she provides an insight into the expressiveness of sign language and encourages audiences to create, to make, to write and to express themselves visually.

Asphyxia is a vibrant speaker who will have audiences captivated throughout her presentation. Audience members are given an opportunity to have their questions answered.

Topics covered

Creating a unique book from found materials
Journaling daily experiences
Visual expression and dream following
The expressiveness of sign language

anika

Experience the magic and creative expression that comes with using a journal. In this hands-on workshop, Asphyxia leads participants through a process that will help them dive into their very first journal, or expand their repertoire if they already keep one. Students will prepare pages in their book ready for future use, create a multi-layered page or two, and learn techniques for self-expression that they can use daily.

Asphyxia is passionate about journaling and sees her journal as a daily friend and companion. Asphyxia’s journals are both stunning and inspiring, filled with paint, collage, photos, writing and beautiful papers. These journals are a great reference of inspiration for students. Asphyxia will describe her process to express daily experiences on the page.

As a Deaf artist, Asphyxia inspires audiences to follow their dreams, whatever their abilities. Through her talk, she provides an insight into the expressiveness of sign language, and encourages audiences to create, to make, to write and to express themselves visually.

Asphyxia is a vibrant speaker who will have audiences captivated throughout her presentation.

Topics covered

Creative self-expression
Journaling
The expressiveness of sign language

anika

Míša’s Dynamic Still Life workshop explores a wide variety of artistic techniques and skills. Dynamic Still life is taking one object and exploring it in several ways. Misa will introduce students to different techniques on how to visually interpret one object. Students will begin with continuous line drawing and move to pastel scratching, pen and watercolour painting and finally a layering approach with acrylic paints.

Topics covered

Inspiration
Analysing still life
Application of varying techniques
Defining spatial awareness
Explore abstract thinking
Overcome failure
Learn new things

Curriculum outcomes

They demonstrate different techniques and processes in planning and making artworks.
Thinking imaginatively, creatively and interpretatively
Expressing themselves

anika

Míša is passionate about art and loves to inspire and encourage students of all ages. In this workshop students will first explore and discuss art portraiture in history and the evolution of style followed by learning a practical guide to proportions of the facial structure and how to create a face.

Students will then learn to think outside the box with a continuous line drawing of an object (ie. A pear) followed by another continuous line drawing of themself using the right side of the brain to look at the light & shadows as well as the details in their faces. They will then turn this base drawing into a masterpiece with colour, texture and collage.

Each art session is tailored to specific age groups.

Topics covered

Inspiration & history of art
Defining spatial awareness
Exploring abstract thinking
Overcoming failure
Learning new things

Curriculum outcomes

Use materials, techniques and processes to explore visual conventions when making artworks
Thinking imaginatively, creatively and interpretatively
Expressing themselves
History

anika

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