Ballarat Writers Festival Sep 3 & 4
About
The Dinner
The Program
Bookings
Staying in Ballarat
Ballarat Writers is thrilled to announce the return of the Ballarat Writers’ Festival. In 2010 the festival will shine a spotlight on Children’s and Young Adult Writing. The program offers panels on issues vital to emerging and aspiring writers in the industry. It will offer practical advice as well as an overview of the industry today. Our guests are some of Australia’s top children’s and YA writers and publishers. Plus, you have the chance to get your work in front of publishers with our First Page Competition, in which our panel of publishers will choose 6 first pages from the entries and discuss their merits in the final session of the day. More details about how to enter will be sent upon ticket purchase.
The Dinner
The Festival kicks off on Friday 3 September with a Festival Dinner at Ballarat’s heritage venue, Alexandria on Lydiard , 30 Lydiard St North. Please note the venue as it is different to the venue originally advertised. The gourmet dinner of three courses (wine extra) will feature Martine Murray, speaking about her writing ife. It’s a great opportunity to relax and mingle with other festival attendees and guests before the busy program on Saturday.
The Program
This is our list of confirmed guests for the Saturday 4 September program which will also take place at Alexandria on Lydiard. Registration will be from 9am-10am and the program will run from 10am to 5 pm. For more information on festival guests, scroll down below the program.
Friday
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Time
Session
Title
Presenters
6.00-7.00pm
Festival Launch
Launch and pre-dinner drinks
7.00-9.00pm
Festival Dinner Festival Dinner Speaker
Martine Murray
Saturday
-
Time Session Title / topic Presenter/s 9.30 – 10 am Registration and First Page submissions 10–10.50am Keynote address How I got my break Martine Murray 11–11.50am Panel 1 To rhyme or not to rhyme – the picture book market Rachel Flynn
Jackie Hosking
Jenny Fink
12.00-12.50pm Panel 2 What’s hot and what’s not – publishers talk about trends in the industry Maryann Ballantyne, black dog books
Catherine McCredie, Penguin
Alison Arnold, Text Publishing
1.00-1.50pm Lunch 2.00-2.50pm Panel 3 Pitching to the right age – writing for 8-14 year olds Sue Lawson
Rachel Flynn
Deb Marshall
3.00-3.50pm Panel 4 Is the YA genre a marketing ploy? Julie Gittus
Sue Lawson
Adam Ford
3.50-4.20pm Afternoon Tea 4.30-5.30pm First Page Critique of selected first pages by publishers Maryann Ballantyne, black dog books
Catherine McCredie, Penguin
Alison Arnold, Text Publishing
Alison Arnold works as an editor at Text Publishing, where she is editing everything from debut YA fiction to translations of Dutch crime novels. She previously worked at Black Dog Books where she edited Carole Wilkinson (Dragonkeeper) and Leon Davidson (Scarecrow Army). Text Publishing is the convenor of the Text Prize for Children’s and Young Adult writing. The Text Prize
Maryann Ballantyne is publishing director of black dog books — Australia’s most exciting independent publisher based in Fitzroy. Although still extremely young, her career spans more than 25 years in the industry. Maryann is passionate about bringing Australian stories to young readers. black dog books- Jenny Fink has worked for many years as a children’s and youth librarian across the Central Region and is particularly interested in early years literacy. Jenny has been involved in a number of regional literacy projects and has helped to organise 3 successful Early Years Literacy Conferences in the Ballarat Area. Central Highlands Library
Rachel Flynn’s best-known books are the Koala Hills series of five school-based novels comprising I Hate Fridays, It’s Not Fair, I Can’t Wait, Worried Sick and Messing Around. Her novel Sacked has been translated into Spanish, Dutch and French, and will soon be translated into Korean. Her most recently published novel for young independent readers is Moon Station. Rachel’s best-loved picture books are My Mummy and Me, My Daddy and Me, My Grandpa and Me, My Grandma and Me and My Sister and Me. Rachel at Penguin
Adam Ford is a writer, editor, cartoonist and ironical observer of popular culture. His creative pursuits include writing/performing poetry and publishing his own comics and zines. His first book of poems, Not Quite the Man for the Job, was published by Allen & Unwin in 1998. His young adult novel Man Bites Dog (Allen and Unwin 2003) won an honorable mention in the Victorian Premier’s literary awards and was the winner of the 2004: 52nd Annual APA Book Design Awards in the Best Designed Young Adult Book, the Best Designed Children’s Cover of the Year and the Best Designed Cover of the Year categories. Adam’s blog
Julie Gittus is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novel Saltwater Moons. She is currently working on her second novel with the assistance of an Australia Council grant. Her short stories have been included in Australian anthologies including Best of the Best, edited by Barry Oakley. Julie’s website
Jackie Hosking – Since 2003 Jackie has written and published short stories, non-fiction articles and poetry for children. Jackie also edits ‘*PASS IT ON’*, a weekly, on-line, *interactive*, networking newsletter for those involved with or interested in the *children’s writing industry*. Jackie’s website
Sue Lawson worked as a teacher and a radio announcer/producer, before serious illness motivated her to devote more time to her true passion – writing. Sue’s books include young adult novels Finding Darcy and the award winning, Allie McGregor’s True Colours, the popular Diva series, Dragon’s Tear, Jamie’s Star and CBC Notable books, Tessa, Ferret Boy and My Gran’s Different. Sue’s website
Catherine McCredie has been a senior editor at Penguin for ten years, working on books for children and young adults. She has worked with Paul Jennings, the late and great Patricia Wrightson, Allan Baillie, Odo Hirsch, Mary-Anne Fahey, Julia Lawrinson, Elaine Forrestal, DaveHackett, Gabrielle Williams, Archimede Fusillo and Gretel Killeen, among others. Penguin
Deb Marshall is Head Librarian at Ballarat High School and an avid reader of YA fiction. She loves talking about books with students, parents, teachers… and anyone else who will listen. She is also passionate about developing blogs and wikis to encourage teenagers to read and discuss their reading.
Martine Murray left university to study art. After art school she studied more physical things like acrobatics and dance. Then she tried to join it all together in theatre. Meanwhile, she started writing just to keep track of what was going on. She lives in country Victoria and spends a lot of time walking with her dog and thinking up ideas. She has never learnt practical skills except how to cook rice. Her published work includes How to make a bird (winner of the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Young Adults), the Cedar B. Hartley books and the Henrietta series. Martine at A&U
Bookings
Tickets are strictly limited and are only available online.
SATURDAY SESSIONS (Registration 9am, Sessions 10am-5pm): $40 full price / $30 concession price
Friday night FESTIVAL DINNER with guest speaker Martine Murray: $50 (no concessions)
When you click on the Book Now! link below you will be taken to the trybooking.com site where your payment will be processed and a printable ticket issued. (NB: trybooking adds a 30c booking fee to each ticket.) Your receipt email will be followed by another email detailing the guidelines for the First Page Competition as well as information about accommodation and transport in Ballarat.
Online bookings are now closed. A limited number of tickets are available at the door between 9.00 and 9.30am on Saturday 4 Sep 2010.
Staying in Ballarat
Ballarat has a wide range of accommodation options and is easily reached from Melbourne in just over an hour by train or car. To find out more, go to Visit Ballarat and ballarat.com.
Our sponsors
Have just booked my ticket and am really looking forward to the event. A focus on children’s and young adult writing is inspiring and very timely. Well done, Ballarat!
Is the first page for publishers only for Children’s writers and Young Adults ?
Yes, the first page must be the first page of a work for children or young adults. The writer may be published or unpublished.
I can’t make the day but would love to enter the first page competition. Is this possible?
Unfortunately entry is only available to registered participants, as they need to be at the session when the publishers give their comments on the selected pages.
Hi. Just wondering if there’s any age limit to attend and submit first page entry? I am 14 and writing is my passion. (Most recent work-in-progress is 41 806 words and roughly ten – eleven chapters long)
Can’t wait to read those first page submissions — I hope they’re good! Don’t let anyone make me say, ‘Show, don’t tell.’ Or ‘Less is more.’
Clare, you’re welcome to join us and submit a First Page entry. There are plenty of great young writers out there. Good luck!
Are there any style guidelines for this first page? Do we need to write a summary of the product on the other side? Will there be an entry form to complete?
Can’t wait for the day. A dedicated festival for children’s and Y.A authors – great stuff.
All the guidelines will be sent to you in an email when you register online for the festival, and entries will be accepted between 9 and 10am on Saturday 4th at the venue.
Hi,
I have registered for both the dinner and the day on Saturday and am looking forward to it very much.
Is it okay to enter a picture book manuscript in the First Page competition?
Yes, it’s fine to enter the text of a picture book manuscript as long as you keep to the First Page guidelines.
I think this is an incredible opportunity to have my work reviewed by the best. The only and biggest problem is my work is text for a children’s picture book and the first page would be just 5 lines.
If I understand correctly, could I enter the text of the first page of the manuscript, meeting the guidelines?
Thanks
PS Would it be too sneaky if I cello tape my first page to some good quality red?
Very excited about the festival. Wondering if you can enter more than one first page?
An A4 page can hold more than 5 lines of text, even at double spacing. So it’s a matter of layout really. You don’t need to lay it out as it would be laid out in a book.
No, sorry, there is only one entry per participant.
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