The school holidays are approaching and the Tamar Valley Writers Festival is here to support and engage young writers throughout Launceston and the Tamar Valley. Our program has been designed for 12 - 18 year olds to work on world building, spoken word poetry, visual language, and more. The workshops are all one hour long and feature Tasmanian talents.
Sara Ferrington is the founder and atelierista of Rascal Robot Art Space - an art space to celebrate and nurture young visual creatives based in the West Tamar Valley. Sara will talk about creating visual language and storytelling that doesn't rely on traditional language to communicate meaning and ideas.
Jazz Frost, a spoken word poet, recently published her anthology 'Ambiguity', documenting their journey through accepting her queerness, vulnerability, and mental health. They are excited to pass on the freedom of expressing oneself through words and the joy of performing. Jazz has youth mental health first aid qualifications and works with young people from trauma backgrounds, as well as being one of the driving forces behind Launceston's Queer Pride Ball, earning them a special commendation at the Young Tasmanian of the Year Award 2022.
Avery McDougall published her debut YA novel in April 2022 with Forty South Publishing. Invisibly Grace has been described as moving, genuinely funny, and honest as it deals with being a teenager, chronic illness, and being the 'new kid'. She is a teacher librarian by degree and a youth worker in practice, specialising in working with those, like her, who collect 'A-Words' (autistic, autoimmune, author, awesome.... the list goes on!). Avery looks forward to helping young people with their world building and dialogue, making characters and settings feel authentic and alive.
Mallika Naguran isn't just an author, she's also a very experienced communicator and environmental professional. She has published two books for young people that focus on retelling classic tales for younger readers (Peter Pan and Ramayana: the quest to rescue Sita by Pop!Lit for Kids). She's thrilled to be part of the young writers program and looks forward to helping young people develop compelling voices for animal characters. For more information on workshops, dates, and times, check out Eventbrite!
Comments