WORDUP (Close the Gap) BOOK PROJECT
I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to make a presentation to a group of new young authors in Sydney in early December. The event signalled the completion of the wordUP literacy program which was run during September and October 2008, and included participants from the Yurangai Learning Centre’s Out of School Program, which is operated by Barnardos at the Factory Community Centre in Waterloo.
The project involved writing books – and the books, you may be surprised to learn, were written by some of Australia’s youngest authors. I was excited to release my first book when I was 28, but the youngest author in this group was only five years old! Now that is inspiring and impressive, by anyone’s standards.
The range of ideas and stories in the wordUP project reflects the diversity of our lives in this city, and also the creative minds of the kids in the local area. And creativity and diversity are important to recognise and also celebrate.
The fact that these books were written in four weeks is astounding and I think that I could benefit from some workshops also given my books take between four months and four years to write.
The books were completed with the support and encouragement of the Social Work Students from the University of New South Wales who were given the broad task of creating a project related to the Close The Gap campaign. They designed the WordUp project and found a suitable partner in the Yuringai Learning Centre – and I congratulate them all for your efforts and for ensuring that we will have a generation of creative producers coming out of Waterloo and Redfern.
As the Chair of the Australian Society of Authors, and someone who loves to write and to read books, it was my pleasure to officially present the books to their authors.
Our youngest author is Ben Snaea at only 5 years old – and his book called Jet Li in the Jungle is about Jet Li and his brother Jack and cousin John fighting lions in the jungle.
Liam Thompson is only 6 years old and his book Ben Ten and his First Journey involves kangaroos and birds and also has photos of Liam in action! They’re great.
Isabella Redman is 8 years old, and her book King Kong was swinging through the Jungle uses bold coloured pages, and text and Isabella’s own handwriting to tell the story.
Belinda McDonnell is 8 years old and her book The Wicked Witch is about a witch with an evil dog called Sniffles and they live in a big castle made out of ice.
Serika Shillingsworth is 9 years old, and her book The Evil Queen Who Stole The Sky is a story about an evil queen who raises taxes so she can buy more dresses.
Kaleab Gavin is 9 years old and his book The Mystery Noise is about boys exploring the jungle.
Samantha Redman is 10 years old, and her book Sam’s Best Pictures is about fish, the moon and a serious Lego fight!
Jerome is 10 year old and he wrote a book called Columbia Tristar Pictures about a Kungfu Panda and dragon warriors.
Last but not least, Liam McDonnell is 11 years old and his book The Shotgun, is a suspense story about an FBI agent on a mission that includes saving hostages.
Congratulations to all these wonderful kids and the team that helped to bring their stories to life.
Dr Anita Heiss is from the Wiradjuri nation of central NSW. She is an author, poet, social commentator and cultural activist. Her most recent books include Yirra and her deadly dog, Demon and Not Meeting Mr Right. Photo credit: Pedro de Almeida.
