The Festival of Books, Reading, Drama, Poetry and Everything in Between!
Literary Festival was in full swing this week at ATC, as we played host to a range of authors and artists, parents and other visitors who delivered a range of literary experiences for our students.
Poet and author, Josh Donellan, slam poet Angela Peita and manga artist David Lovegrove were the stars of our College Assembly on Tuesday, performing their poetry and ambidextrous manga art as well as sharing a wide variety of writing tips. Assembly was followed by small group workshops to further engage boys in the various storytelling mediums of our talented guests.
Writer, Tim Baker, presented to our Year 9 and Year 10 boys, sharing inspirational stories from his time as Editor-in-Chief of Surfing magazines, his non-fiction writing gigs and the rise and fall and rise again, of the professional surfers with whom he co-wrote their biographies.
Poet Michelle Taylor presented to our Year 7 boys, imparting some fantastic and practical tips for poetry writing as well as sharing some of her best poetry writing to inspire our budding poets!
The Junior School boys enjoyed a ‘reading in nature’ afternoon, to promote the simple joy of reading for pleasure. The many benefits of enjoying fiction reading are well supported in research, which is why we encourage boys to read a range of fiction and enforcing it with ‘Flash Fiction’ in our Middle School.
A group of Brigidine College students joined us for the day on Thursday, participating in rotations of Manga drawing workshops, outdoor reading with our Year 4 boys and an emoji book title challenge!
Books and Breaky kicked off the day early for our Junior School families on Thursday, where a morning of books and stories, coffee and quiches were enjoyed by all in Mt Sion Library.
Storytime sessions are always a delight for our Junior School boys, with our College Leadership Team reading picture books, and happily donning a silly wig/hat/costume to add to the drama of the story. Thank you to all staff who were involved.
On Friday we rounded off the week with Shakespearean hip-hop artist Charlie Thomson, who wowed our Year 11 boys with his hip hop beats, followed by poetry workshops, where our boys had the opportunity to write their own raps and even perform to the beat for their peers!
Author Sam Wheeler presented to our JS boys for the final day of our Literary Festival, her books are a delight to the senses and she even donated two copies of her latest book ‘Once I munched a Mango’ to our Junior library. Her presentation was followed up by some writing workshops to further develop boys’ writing skills.
Dr John Saunders visited Junior School for a ‘process drama’ workshop with our JS boys, based on the picture book ‘Fox’ by Margaret Wild. It was an extraordinary experience for the boys to explore the meaning and richness of the characters behind the text.
We finished up the day with an online Storytime session delivered by Mr Stewart in the Junior School – who enthusiastically read a range of brand new story books to the boys to ease their way into the weekend. What a week! We can't wait for next year!
Books and Bubbles was our twilight signature event for parents who enjoyed a lovely evening with author, Tim Baker and children’s and YA literature expert, Pauline McLeod from Riverbend Books. Sipping champagne and eating cheese while browsing some fabulous new titles also added to the wonderful night!
Ms Kristy Taylor
Head of Library Services
