Ahead of the launch of the City of Subiaco’s 2023 Young Writers Award, the award’s brand-new patron Craig Silvey spoke with hundreds of young writers across the state.
In mid-May, Craig hosted a free Q&A session at Subiaco Arts Centre, where young writers asked poignant questions about separating themselves from the editing process, and how to listen to characters.
Craig then headed south for a Q&A session at Albany Public Library with a sold-out audience of teachers and mentors of young writers.
For regional and remote schools further afield, a Q&A session was also held via Zoom from the Albany Public Library. The virtual session was very well-attended, with participants from as far as East Kimberley College in Kununurra.
Stand-out questions from this session included, “What’s your ultimate goal as a writer?”, and “Did anyone put you down for wanting to be a writer?”
The final event was held at North Albany Senior High School, where students and teachers spent their recess break to chat with Craig in the school library. Then, year 12 ATAR English students had a detailed discussion with Craig about his novel ‘Jasper Jones’.
In total, these sessions reached close to 200 students, parents, teachers and mentors. These events were made possible by a sponsor of the Young Writers Award, and the City of Subiaco.
2023 Craig Silvey Award submissions officially open at 9.30am on Monday 17 July. The award is open to all Western Australian school students from years one to twelve who submit an original piece of writing, no longer than 2000 words in length.
Within the next few weeks, Subiaco Library will be hosting an upcoming series of writing workshops to support students in developing their stories for the award.
Bookings are essential.