Dear aspiring writers, passionate literacy advocates and keen readers!
It is entirely inspirational to think all around the country, passionate wordsmiths are planning to commit to 2014 and create magic. All around the country too, are passionate readers who love being transported to another world, another time, and thoroughly believe the time given to reading is worthwhile, indeed, noble!
Noble too is the possibility that comes from the process of sharing words and thoughts, communicating to people you haven’t met before, sharing your thoughts and ideas; creating characters that may or may not mirror your world; a story which explores concepts you wish to gain a deeper understanding of…
A powerful moment for me this year (not as a writer, but someone who is supporting writers!) was the conversation between the two winners of the Child Writes competition. Charlotte has never been to the outback; Kate has never been to the city – yet these two 11 year olds have ‘met’ via Skype, and are planning not to collaborate on their first children’s picture book this year, but how they can visit each other! Another was talking to an elderly gentleman this afternoon who believes ‘computers are confounded things’, then showing him how to set his words to a PDF document so others can read his stories and watching him take over the mouse and navigate around the computer screen…
Both examples sound nearly stereotypical – and in a way, they are… For we all walk a common path and have common interests and in doing so, communicating with others with these assumptions on board is all the easier!
I am going to completely embrace the idea that you are on board and understand how heartfelt a ‘thank you’ is when you share it with the world… Ainsley Shepherd manages, year in year out, to untangle the Child Writes vision and extrapolate my ravings into clear concise marketing funnels, all with aplomb and passion and verve! I can’t wait until you see her first book ‘Slow Down Sarah’ in 2014 as it just begins to show you the character of this incredible woman… Jodie Rigby happened to stumble upon Child Writes at our book launch and was completely hooked! She followed with blind faith and cajoled the first tutor led class of children through the program – proving indeed that it can be done… Michelle von Pein, BCreative graphic designer 0extraordinaire, continually interprets our briefest briefs and brings the imagery of Child Writes to you…. Passionate long-term literacy advocates Cr Carol Taylor and Mr Peter Rookas were again front and center at a book launch this year, reiterating the impact these children have on other children just by the power of their shared words and images… Neil Ault continued to untangle our vision and expand it into our beautiful website… The USQ Printing team fervently support the program and have been printing the book now for eight (8) years without a raised eyebrow or grizzling about missed deadlines!...Tina Dalby, as a TAFE student, found Child Writes to work with for her volunteer hours and saved my bacon by proofreading preprint… And it was so much fun to work with Carly Stone as she is a truly formidable PR machine and taught us so much... For all the schools who were brave enough to take a leap and share the possibility of the competition with their students, thank you… And finally, to those of you who have made enquiries and are considering joining us for the journey in 2014 – can’t wait to spend more time with you… It indeed is promising to be an incredible year.
Thank you.
X
Emma