READERS & WRITERS FESTIVAL CELEBRATING 2014 10 BIG YEARS SEPTEMBER 12, 13 & 14 www.library.cgg.wa.gov.au BIG SKY 2014 - Wild Blue Yonder Our Sponsors Friends of the library Geraldton BIG SKY 2014 - Wild Blue Yonder Introduction Big Sky: Wild Blue Yonder invites depression, romance, fantasy, crime, you to take a leap of faith into memoir, comedy and poetry – to name Celebrating unknown territory. That is exactly a few. what happened ten years ago, when Geraldton Regional Library held its first It is only through the artist’s work readers and writers festival. and dedication to their craft that we, the consumers of their creativity, Since then, Big Sky has gone from can travel into the wild blue yonder strength to strength, offering the – to discover new territories, form community a host of experiences and new opinions, be entertained and introducing them to many talented stimulated by the words and ideas of artists. This year is no exception, when these very special guests. 10 we will welcome writers from across BIG YEARS Australia to our city. They are taking The City of Greater Geraldton is proud a giant step by agreeing to travel to to be celebrating 10 Big Years of Big Geraldton, and we will welcome them Sky and hopes you will join us in taking with open arms, ensuring they are that leap into the wild blue yonder treated with the respect and interest where your imagination can run wild! they deserve. Every artist has a story to tell – they have been brave enough Susan Smith to step away from their comfort zones Manager Libraries and Heritage to create amazing tales which span a variety of emotions and genres – grief, BIG SKY 2014 - Wild Blue Yonder Big Sky 4 Youth 9.45am – 10.45am Concurrent Sessions Sessions for school students only Jumping out of your comfort zone Flying through books Ticketed events: $10.00 Isobelle Carmody talks about her writing and Sally Murphy loves telling stories, especially why it is important to journey into that “wild blue when they are about fun and interesting yonder” for inspiration. characters. Venue: Nagle Catholic College Venue: Geraldton Regional Library Friday September 2014 School level: Secondary School level: Upper Primary 11.00am – 12.00pm Devouring urban fantasy The magic of music and stories Join Joe Ducie on an action packed adventure with characters who inhabit Kaleidoscope Ensemble will delight their audience bringing books to life in an a darkly atmospheric world. entertaining, interactive session that bursts at the seams with colourful music. Venue: John Willcock College Venue: Geraldton Regional Library School level: Secondary School level: Lower Primary 1.45pm – 2.45pm 1.30pm – 2.30pm Jumping out of your The magic of music and stories Flying through books comfort zone Kaleidoscope Ensemble will delight Sally Murphy loves telling stories, especially when Isobelle Carmody talks about her writing and their audience bringing books to life in an they are about fun and interesting characters. why it is important to journey into that “wild entertaining, interactive session that bursts at Venue: Our Lady of Mt Carmel Mullewa the seams with colourful music. blue yonder” for inspiration. School level: Primary Venue: Geraldton Secondary College Venue: Mullewa District High School School level: Secondary School level: Mixed 2.00pm – 3.00pm Beyond Puberty Blues Since co-writing Puberty Blues, Gabrielle Carey has lived a varied life which has taken her to many places. Surprisingly, one of them was Geraldton, where she discovered some family secrets while researching her latest book about Randolph Stow. Venue: Geraldton Grammar School | School Level: Secondary BIG SKY 2014 - Wild Blue Yonder Adult Masterclass 1.30pm – 4.00pm Adult Masterclass Sessions Comedy a go-go Ticketed events: $50.00 Tim Ferguson is a genius: he will show you how he is a genius. Venue: Geraldton Regional Library Ticketed Event: $50.00 Limited numbers Friday September 2014 Please book and pay at the Library. 1.30pm – 4.00pm Adult Masterclass Share your secret Short story writing Everyone has a secret, something we don’t or can’t share. It might be The short story is one of the liveliest and most engaging forms of modern something we like or something we are ashamed of – it could even be literature. Tony Birch will guide you through the basic techniques in the funny. We all carry secrets, big and small – it’s all part of being human. art of the short story: narrative voice, point-of-view, character, and story But how would it feel to actually tell your secret, to reveal it without being development. Venue: Geraldton Regional Library identified. Would it be a release, a weight lifted? Ticketed Event: $50.00 As part of Big Sky, we are inviting people to Limited numbers. Please book and pay at the Library share a secret anonymously by filling out the “Share a Secret” postcard which will be available at the Library and selected 5.30pm – 7.30pm locations around Geraldton and Mullewa. Post your secrets to the Library, or Festival opening place them in collection boxes at the MC: Geraldine Mellet Geraldton and Mullewa Libraries so Venue: Geraldton Regional Library they can be displayed during Big Sky. Music: Kaleidoscope Ensemble Come along and help us celebrate the Sharing your secret could tenth year of Big Sky. Bring along some friends, meet our guests, have a bite to change your life! eat and enjoy the music of Kaleidoscope Ensemble. The perfect way to start the weekend. BIG SKY 2014 - Wild Blue Yonder Saturday 9.00am – 9.45am Geraldton Universities Centre The Co-op Bookshop will be Keynote address No end to it: The enduring adventures of reading and writing. selling books and The books we read transport us out into the wild blue yonder, shaping stationery from our expectations, influencing the way we live. How much do we owe to our reading lives, and how does what we read influence what we write? 8.30am to 4.00pm September 2014 Liz Byrski on Saturday 10.00am – 12.00pm Durack Institute of Technology 10.15am – 11.15am Geraldton Universities Centre Food of the Southern Forests Music and mayhem in the kids’ tent Sophie Zalokar will share some of the delicious recipes which will feature in her Join author Sally Murphy and musical duo Kaleidoscope Ensemble for new book. an hour of stories, music and craft. Play some music, listen to stories Ticketed Event: $25 per head. Please book and pay at the Library and make your own musical instrument! Pre-order Sophie’s book through the Co-op Bookshop 10.15am – 11.15am Concurrent Sessions – Geraldton Universities Centre Outsiders Moving among strangers Workshop: writing fantasy Tony Birch and Craig Sherborne write about people Gabrielle Carey joins Ashley Hay to discuss Isobelle Carmody who are marginalised in society — yet they show how her obsession with Randolph Stow and her Is writing fantasy all about myths and all lives have their victories, no matter how small. family’s links to Geraldton. legends, or more to do with the basics of Moderator: Lorraine Chapman good story telling? Book signing session next to Festival Bookshop GUC 11.45am – 12.45pm Concurrent Sessions – Geraldton Universities Centre The scales of injustice The hook Workshop: poetry Where does justice lie in the search for truth within Joe Ducie and Isobelle Carmody use many Annamaria Weldon our courts? ploys to reel in their predominantly young adult How do we capture the essence of a place so Bret Christian and Dawn Barker in conversation audience. that it may be seen with new eyes? with Malcolm Smith. Moderator: Glyn Parry 2014 - Wild Blue Yonder BIG SKY Geraldton Universities Centre 1.15pm – 2.15pm Tim Ferguson, Joe Ducie, Craig Sherborne The great debate: Sitorus. and Rosie Saturday The Age of Entitlement, Brian isPoller Over. vs Julian Canny Geraldine Mellet Adjudicator: Book signing session next to Festival Bookshop GUC September 2014 Concurrent Sessions at Geraldton UniversitiesA world Centre of other women Dawn 2.45pm – 3.45pm No boundaries, no borders and You are invited to the launch of The slither between memory Sarah Drummond, Liz ByrskiGeraldine Mellet. and invention Barker in conversation with has traced and Craig Into the wild blue yonderAnnie Boyd Is it possible to have moreAshley honesty Hay in fiction The Search for HMAS Sydney S.S. Koombana. writing than memoir? Through extensive research, provide insights into their latest Sherborne Kerry Stewart An Australian Story the short and colourful career of the novels. Moderator: Join her as she explores the maritime and coastal history of Western Australia in the early years of the Join us for the exclusive launch of the fascinating new book, The 20th century. Search for HMAS Sydney: An Australian Story which tells of the Book signing session next to Festival Bookshop GUC Western Australian Museum - Geraldton history, loss, discovery and commemoration of HMAS Sydney II located by the Finding Sydney Foundation in 2008, solving one of 4.30pm – 6:00pm the most baffling mysteries in Australia’s naval history. Sydney: An Australian Story Search for HMAS The book includes stories by family members of the men killed Book launch: Sydney but also has a strong in Sydney and of how they and the nation coped with the huge The book — edited by Finding Sydney Foundation past directors Ted Graham, Kim Kirsner, Bob Trotter and Bob King has outpouring of emotion that the discovery of Sydney’s wreck four themes — the context of the search, the challenges confronted in mounting the search, activities related to the brought; it exposes the decades of false trails and false hopes which search, and commemoration. Each chapter contains family photos of those lost and images relating to that chapter.