Sally Rippin's Blog, page 8

... And for any Queenslanders reading this blog, I'm heading up to your sunny state this Sunday. (Woo hoo!) I will be at the Ipswich Literature Festival from Sept 5th to the 13th, and also squeezing in a day at the Brisbane Writers' Festival on Sept 9th. Love to see you!And if you can't make it in person, don't forget to check out Sheryl Gwyther's wonderful blog which, is ALMOST as nice as being there.

For any Billie fans, I will be doing a book signing at Collins Book Store in Northland on Saturday 27th from 1pm until 2pm. For anyone who'd like to hear me chat about Angel Creek, I will be at the Melbourne Writers Festival on Tues 30th, 10am at Art Play. Lastly, if you'd like to hear Gabrielle Wang and I chatting about books, writing and just about anything you want really, we will be at the MWF on Wed 31 at 11.15am. Hope to see some of you there!

Well, like many other children's authors, I am gearing up for several solid weeks of school talks around Melbourne and interstate, everywhere from Pakenham to Geelong, Ballarat to Ipswich. I love visiting schools, especially when I get to meet my young fans or test out my ideas on a ready audience, but I do find it exhausting. To me, giving 'author talks' is a little like doing a performance, and at most schools I'll do three or four in a row. Often my audience is very young so to keep the littlies entertained I find myself contorting my voice and face into so many different expressions that by the end of the day my voice has diminished into a raspy squeak and even my face hurts and I am wondering how on earth Justine Clarke makes it look so easy. There was a time when I was younger and more sprightly (in the Olden Days) when I seemed to have limitless energy and would do school talks all throughout the year, whenever my booking agency asked me to. However it eventually got to the stage where I was spending more time talking about what I do than actually getting it done, so now I try to limit my public speaking gigs to one solid block around Book Week and do them all in one go. I also do this because I am finding it harder and harder to change gears from my outward extroverted performer self to that quiet introverted self I need to create. Sometimes, even if I know I have a public speaking event in a week I have set aside to work on a book, I can often sense an underlying hum of agitation that stops me from completely losing myself in my work. Having said all this I am also terribly grateful for all my school bookings and public speaking gigs because for many years they have provided the butter to put on my family's bread. Those writing books that describe the 'perfect writing life' are quite laughable really: A log cabin in the woods, long uninterrupted days with a glass of red wine and an intelligent adult conversation in the evenings before settling back down to work. I can only suppose that these people have very rich patrons and definitely no children because I certainly don't know any writers who have that kind of life. Even the most 'successful' ones. In fact the most successful writers I know, men and women, have worked the hardest and often juggled all kinds of things to be able to create a writing space for themselves. These are the writers who inspire me the most.

It's been hard to keep this to myself over the last few months but now everything has been confirmed I am able to share my exciting news.Late last year The Faber Academy got in touch to see if I would be interested in teaching a course in Writing For Children. Even though I love teaching, I had recently given up my position at RMIT to spend more time on my own work, so I admit at first I was a little reluctant to commit myself to more teaching so soon. But after doing a little google-work and seeing all their other fabulous creative writing courses held in exotic locations led by jaw-droppingly impressive writers, my initial hesitation quickly faded. The course will begin in February next year and will run for three months at the fabulous Donkey Wheel House (pictured - check out the link to see the great stuff they do). It's going to be a great course, lots fun, lots of reading and lots of workshopping, with guest speakers and excursions and lots of great discussions about kids lit. I can't wait!Click here for all the course information and details on the application process.

Just a little taste of an extraordinarily beautiful adaptation of "The Night Garden", by Elise Hurst and "The Rainbirds", by David Metzenthen (illustrated by me.) This will be a wonderful family-friendly event held during the September school holidays, combining animation with live and recorded classical music. So far I have only seen snippets of what will be the whole performance, but it has been incredibly exciting to see two of my favourite picture books brought to life. I can also tell you that this is a true labour of love by MRC education co-ordinator, MaryRose Harrison, musical director, Jo Beaumont and animator, Diana Ward, yet, at this stage there will only be one Melbourne performance - September 26th, at the Melbourne Recital Centre. So make sure you get your tickets! I will be there with as many children as I can drag along with me. I can't wait to see it all come together on the big screen!

Earlier this year, I was asked to write a short picture book text for an illustration competition run by the State Library to coincide with their children's book illustration exhibition: "Look! The Art of Children's Picture Books Today". Each month, a new section of the story was released and children were invited to send in their interpretations of the text. It goes without saying that it was VERY difficult to choose the winning entries as the work was so diverse and so lovely and sometimes the other judges: author/illustrator Anna Walker and author/publisher Jane Godwin and I would disagree. But I think you'll agree that the finished books in all three age categories are simply stunning. Click on this link to look at the e-book, and make sure you read all the way through as the different age groups are all bound up together. As an illustrator, I find children's artwork constantly inspiring: the spontaneity of their line work, the freshness of their ideas. Looking at children's drawings helps loosen my rigid adult way of seeing the world. As Picasso once famously said: "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

Speaking of lying, click here for a fascinating interview with psychologist Dorothy Rowe, recorded earlier this year at the Perth Writers' Festival. The summary reads: "From everyday fibs to grand-scale public deception, renowned psychologist Dorothy Rowe explores the reasons we lie and constructions of truth."It's an hour long interview but absolutely worthwhile and Dr Rowe is an inspirational woman. Honest!

Here is Aki's latest blog post about illustrating The Little Lie.Some of these Billie stories stray so close to home it's almost embarrassing. Yes, I once cut my own hair, yes, I craved to be a teacher's pet, and, yes, I was known to make up the odd story once in a while... My poor parents. I can't tell you how many times they pulled out that old "Boy Who Cries Wolf" story in the hope of curing me of my... tendencies towards an overactive elaboration. How could they have known that one day this is how I would make a living?So, what's the biggest fib you've ever told?

Well, I had all good intentions of posting lots of photos and updates while I was in Shanghai but of course had forgotten one teensy problem. Blogger, Facebook, Google, Youtube - all no-goes in China, despite the fact that anyone can pay for a computer program to circumnavigate the government's strict censorship laws. It still astonishes me that this country, so modern in so many ways, can still be so archaic when it comes to freedom of speech and access to information. But that's another day's rant... So, here are a few belated updates on my week in Shanghai.
Firstly, I spent three full days at Yew Chung International school, giving talks and running workshops with their primary students who were delightful. Yew Chung is completely bilingual, with all subjects being taught in Chinese and English. All the same, it was lots of fun to get kids drawing - a language that crosses all cultural boundaries.
Thursday morning was the official opening of the Australian Illustrator's exhibition at the Shanghai Children's Museum, where Ann James and Alison Lester were presented with portraits by an enthusiastic group of kindergarten students who had sat impressively still and quiet all throughout the long and formal speeches.
Then the weekend was busy at the Children's museum: Ann Haddon giving tours of the exhibition, Leigh Hobbs running Old Tom drawing classes, Ann James running painting workshops and me running collage workshops with local children and their parents, amazed that I still had enough rusty Chinese to get by.
After long days, evenings were spent wandering along the Bund, sipping cocktails at the Peace Hotel or gorging ourselves at restaurants, and we still managed to squeeze in some shopping whenever we had a free moment. So much so that I could hardly close my suitcase to come home.
I feel extremely lucky to have been a part of this wonderful exhibition and, judging by the enthusiasm of local parents, teachers and publishers, let's hope it paves the way for many more Australian-Chinese cultural exchanges to come.

This time next week I hope to be munching on dumplings in the steamy city of Shanghai with Leigh Hobbs, Alison Lester, Ann James & Ann Haddon (the fabulous Books Illustrated crew). It will have to be very quick munching though, as Ann and Ann have jam-packed our week with school bookings, teacher information evenings and, most importantly, lots of workshops with local kids at the Shanghai Children's Museum. Over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of June, the Anns will be showcasing a broad range of Australian illustrators at an exhibition at the museum called Swimming With Stories, while Leigh, Ann J and I run illustration workshops. Shaun Tan's 'The Lost Thing' will also be showing at the museum, just in case the Shanghainese weren't already impressed enough with all our Aussie talent on display. Goodness, I almost feel an oi! oi! oi! coming on! If I can squeeze in a free moment between dumpling-gorging and work, I'll try and post some pics.