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| Michael Gerard Bauer, Sheryl Gwyther, Chris Bongers, Chris Cheng, Oliver Phommavanh |
KBR is thrilled to welcome author and all round nice gal Sheryl Gwyther, reporting live from the fabulous Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature! Sheryl is both resident writer and blogger for the festival and she has written this fabulous post for us - with up-to-the-minute news. Aren't we lucky??
I’m counting my lucky chickens who have taken it upon themselves to come home to roost. Why? Because I have a job for the next ten days at the Ipswich Festival of Children’s Literature – not just presenting workshops, but as the Writer-in-Residence at the Festival and the chief blogger.
I post a
daily blog on site here in the Ipswich region. Whilst some of the kids’ programs
are at Ipswich itself and surrounding towns, most of the workshops and Adults’
Program are at Woodlands, the historic house and conference centre at Marburg. It’s
about 40 minutes drive from Brisbane.
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| setting up for the festival - how gorgeous is this venue? |
There are
over 40 of Australia’s best authors and illustrators here – living in the guest
rooms, meeting, eating (and talking!) in the dining room and presenting
sessions for hundreds of school children who are bussed in from the surrounding
regions.
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| bookstore - calm before the storm... |
I’m having a
ball – zipping between sessions, helping out where I can, admiring the
wonderful landscape, talking to kids, photographing the historic house’s
architecture, photographing people, catching up with old friends amongst the
other authors and illustrators, meeting new ones (not so new really, we mostly
all know each other from Facebook. And it’s not just for one or two days, I
have this pleasure of 10 days.
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| Lucia Masciullo with her class |
Every day,
I’ll bring you images and observations from the Festival – hoping to get an
interview or two as well. I have five special kid-friendly microphones and
several kids lined up to be Festival Roving Reporters. We have a writing
competition that will soon need judging and book prizes sent. And I’m looking
forward to my four author presentations on Wednesday and Thursday.
Now, I’m off
to blog! Remember to check out our Festival blog - you are most welcome to leave
a comment. http://ipswichkidslitfest.blogspot.com
Signing off
for the day,
Your
writerly correspondent
Sheryl
Gwyther
See more on Sheryl and her books at www.sherylgwyther.net.
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| the Festival's resident peacock |
