Thank you to everyone who braced the cold and rain to attend our Winter Gathering at the Rymill Centre in the Adelaide Hills, and a special welcome to those who joined us for the first time.
We opened with optional critique sessions providing members an opportunity to give and receive feedback on their draft manuscripts and portfolios.
Kylie Covark then led our first main session for the day. Kylie encouraged us to celebrate our talents and (with a little persuasion) we filled in post-it notes with positive comments about ourselves as creators. Kylie shared her inspiring journey to publication, from her early poetry to receiving a mentorship with Raising Literacy Australia, to her first publication with Ford Street. We congratulate Kylie on receiving a contract for her third picture book Frankie Stein to be published in 2022.
We were delighted to welcome illustrator Vaughan Duck as our next presenter. With 30 years' experience in the industry, Vaughan talked about the variety of work which has enabled him to maintain a living from his illustration. After his first picture book in 1990, Vaughan primarily worked in trade and educational publishing including early readers, textbooks, workbooks and craft books. Recently Vaughan has returned to illustrating picture books, and he shared his recent work Big Beach BBQ published by Larrikin House.
After lunch, Lauren Mullinder led an interactive creative session in illustration. Lauren talked about the basic shapes to create characters and how the choice of shapes can define a character’s personality. Using prompts decided by the group, Lauren led us, step by step, to create our own illustrations. This proved quite a challenge, as the character was a giraffe/ hedgehog/ koala living in an underwater office in Antarctica! Never-the-less it was great fun and there were a few brilliant creations (Louis Decrevel, you are amazing!)
The day concluded with speed launches, where each creator had six minutes to share their recent release. Mike Lucas was joined by ‘Bad Herbert’ to launch Let’s Build a House. Jane Jolly took us on an exotic journey into the early Sikh history of Australia, sharing her beautiful picture book Star of Anise. Janeen Brian read an extract from her enchanting middle-grade novel, Eloise and a Bucket Full of Stars and shared the history behind her inspiration. Ian Boyd took us on a trip to the Murray-Darling Basin, launching his middle-grade novel Melody Finch, the first in his series of eco-fantasy novels. Kristin Martin launched Hugo’s Runaway Legs on behalf of Alys Jackson with a wonderful video which included a reading by a Princess! With her baby (dolls) in tow, Katrina Germein shared her gorgeous picture book Before you were Born which celebrates the joy and anticipation of a new baby. Mandy Foot shared her stunning illustrations and the true story behind her heart-warming picture book Lucy and Copper. Our final speed launcher Danny Snell led us in a quick creative exercise to draw a wombat as he launched The Fire Wombat, a story of courage and compassion inspired by the devastating bush fires in 2020. Congratulations to all our launchers on the release of their beautiful books and we wish them every success.
It was a wonderful day of creativity and inspiration. Thank you to our members who led our sessions and to our eight brilliant speed launchers. We look forward to seeing everyone at our Professional Day on 26th September (followed by an Assessment Fest on the 23rd October). More details to follow.