Kids' Program

School Days

Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 May, 2003

Bring your children to meet leading Australian and international writers as they perform, read from their works, talk, and respond to students. This informal and interactive atmosphere provides children with the opportunity to get up close to their favourite authors and engage with them on their favourite topics - reading and writing.

• Brochure for School Days Program 2003 (PDF) (600k)
• Registration form for School Days Program 2003 (PDF)

The writers

David Almond lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is one of Britain's finest writers for children. An engaging and inspiring speaker, David brings his extensive teaching experience to the stage. His first book, Skellig won the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and his latest novel Counting Stars was also awarded this prestigious prize. His books have been translated into numerous languages and adapted for film, television, stage and radio.

Deborah Carlyon was born in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea in 1970. Her childhood was nourished from the heart of a proud Chimbu heritage and her first book, Mama Kuma won the 2001 Queensland Premier's Literary Award. Mama Kuma is a remarkable story about colonisation, gently revealing the wonder of one woman's journey through two cultures. Deborah was the founding teacher for the Noosa Pengari Steiner School.

Deborah Ellis is an award-winning children's author from Canada. Her books are based on the real lives of women and children she met in Afghanistan. Deborah will talk about her visits to this war-torn country and read from her books, which are about loyalty, survival, families and friendship set against the backdrop of an intolerable existence in Afghanistan.

John Foulcher is the author of seven books of poetry, the most recent being The Learning Curve. He has taught English and Drama for over 20 years and received a nationwide National Excellence in Teaching Award in 1996. His poetry was regularly set for study on the NSW HSC syllabus from 1986 to 1996 and he has also written a textbook for senior secondary students about reading and writing poetry, The Song in Your Head: Ways to Write and Read Poetry. Currently, he is Head of Drama at Bishop Druitt College in Coffs Harbour.

Jackie French's career spans 12 years, 32 wombats, translations into nine languages, numerous awards (including the Australian Children's Book Council Book of the Year for Younger Readers in 2000 for her book Hitler's Daughter), radio shows, newspaper and magazine columns and 27 shredded back doormats (victims of the aforementioned wombats).

Scot Gardner has been a counsellor and works as an education consultant, landscape designer and builder, didgeridoo player and author. His first book One Dead Seagull was published in 2001. His latest book is White Ute Dreaming.

Sonya Hartnett is only in her early thirties and has already written 13 novels, including Sleeping Dogs, Forest and Thursday's Child, which was awarded the Guardian Children's fiction prize in 2002. Her latest book is Of A Boy.

Steven Herrick is one of Australia's best-loved poets for young children. He is the author of more than ten books. He has travelled from Tasmania to the Top End performing at schools and is recognised as one of the country's leading writers for young people.

Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham in 1958, and grew up in Jamaica and Handsworth, where he was sent to an approved school for the uncontrollable and rebellious. He was told he was 'a born failure', and after trying his hand unsuccessfully at crime, he turned to music and poetry: 'I started writing poetry because I didn't like poetry.' As a reggae DJ in Handsworth, he refused to mimic other toasters with their chants about Jamaican life, instead turning to Britain for his own native patter; comic stories and rhymes. Benjamin performs to audiences around the world and will engage the children with ideas about race, religion, peace and the spoken and written word in a performance they won't want to end.

Markus Zusak is only 27-years-old but has already made a successful international writing career. His first novel, The Underdog, was critically acclaimed and short-listed for the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award. When Dogs Cry was published in 2001 and short-listed for the NSW Premier's Award and was named as a CBC Honour Book for 2002. Markus lives in Sydney where he writes, occasionally works as a high school English teacher and plays football for a team that never wins.