Secondary Schools Creative Writing Workshop

SECONDARY SCHOOLS CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS
WITH MELINA MARCHETTA AND JC BURKE

An incredible full day provides access to some of the best Australian Young Adult authors for potential young authors of the future. Suitable for students in years 10, 11 and 12, these workshops are not HSC or curriculum based but focused on the creative writing process with ample opportunity for students to write during the workshops. The focus is for students to have the opportunity to be immersed in the writing process. The aim is for students to write, under direction, with authors also sharing suggestions about the writing process. It is a chance for students to be creative for creativity’s sake, and to explore the potential for creative writing to assist in numerous vocations and creative fields. The authors conduct 2 workshops during the day, with an hour’s lunch break in between. This year we are pleased to welcome back Melina Marchetta and JC Burke.

An exclusive live event for Bathurst Writers’ & Readers’ Festival.

9am – 3pm at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre
Capacity is strictly limited and bookings are essential.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Melina Marchetta’s writing career took off in 1992 when she published her first novel: Looking For Alibrandi. She later turned the story into a film script. The movie Looking for Alibrandi screened in theatres around Australia and the world from 2000. Melina has a Bachelor of Education degree from the Australian Catholic University. She managed to combine writing with teaching English and History in secondary school for ten years up to 2006, when she committed to writing full-time and took a pause from her teaching career. During that period, she released two novels, Saving Francesca and On the Jellicoe Road. Her first fantasy novel, Finnikin of the Rock, was published in 2008. The Piper’s Son (a companion novel to Saving Francesca) was released in 2010. She has written a children’s book, The Gorgon in the Gully, as part of the Puffin Pocket Money series. Her novels have been published in 17 languages in at least 18 countries.  Much of her work evidently draws from real life, including her adolescent experiences and observations of students. Melina lives in Sydney where she writes full time.

JC (Jane Catherine) Burke was born and raised in Sydney. She’s the fourth of five girls and her parents were journalists. She remembers the tip tap of the typewriters and the stress in the house when deadlines were due. Burke trained as a nurse at RPAH and later specialised in Oncology where she worked in Bone Marrow Transplant Units in Sydney and London. Burke prided herself in telling a good story, remembering all the small details, yet her first words weren’t written until she was 35 years old. They became her debut novel White Lies written under the guidance of an ASA Mentorship and was awarded a CBCA Notable Book. Since then, Burke has published many acclaimed and award winning novels with numerous international translations. The Story of Tom Brennan won the CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers and is currently on the NSW HSC English Syllabus.  Pig Boy won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. These days, Burke is trying her hand at TV and Film writing. She lives in Sydney.