As we head into a new school year and requests for school visits start to roll in, I’ve been reflecting on the incredible curiosity and generosity of those in the Australian education system and library services. These communities of people foster in others their love of books, writing and illustration, and the creative process behind it, at the same time helping many a writer maintain faith in their work and enabling them to stay afloat.
They are librarians, English teachers, literacy specialists, innovative educators, festival directors, managers of community centres, and those running small organisations supporting people to explore their creative selves. And of course if you are supported to explore your creative self then really you’re being given permission – or an opportunity – to explore your whole self in all its patchworky glory.
So before we get going on 2019, I’d like to thank every one of you who invited me to their school, library, festive or youth centre to work with kids, young adults and adults in 2018. Some (not all!) of these include:
- Ardross Primary School
- Applecross Senior High School
- AWESOME International Festival for Bright Young Things
- Cambridge Library
- City of Fremantle Library
- City of Kalamunda Libraries
- City of South Perth Libraries
- City of Stirling Libraries
- Como Primary School
- Curtin Primary School
- Dianella Library
- Guildford Grammar School
- Inglewood Primary School
- Irene McCormack Catholic College
- Kensington Primary School
- Kwinana Library
- Manning Primary School
- Perth Writers Festival
- Rockingham Writers Centre
- Scarborough Primary School
- Shenton College
- South Perth Primary School
- Spearwood Alternative School
- St Columba’s Catholic Primary School
- St Mark’s Anglican Community School
- StoryLab
- Telling Tales in Balingup
- The Literature Centre
- The University of Western Australia
- Wesley College
What an absolute privilege.
See you out there in 2019!
Spencer Gray is just an ordinary kid, but he manages to get into some pretty extraordinary situations. When Spencer stumbles on a sinister operation, his life goes into overdrive – midnight rescue missions, super-endangered animals, hair-raising adventures. To survive, Spencer will need to pull off something spectacular.
Deb Fitzpatrick lives and works in Fremantle, WA. She has a Master of Arts (Creative Writing) from UWA and occasionally teaches professional writing and editing at Curtin University.