Evening with an Author series

College News 6vening witH an Author Series

THE continuing partnership between All Saints' and Dymocks Booksellers Garden City saw an impressive list of authors visit the College in 2008.

THE year started with cricketing great Justin Langer, who addressed a packed audience in the College Chapel. On the eve of his retirement from State cricket, Langer talked about his career, overcoming selfdoubt, aiming high for success, finding a balance in life, and his plans for the future. He involved the audience in recreating some of his memorable cricketing moments. Adults and children alike were able to don the 'baggy green' for a few minutes, as they volunteered to play the part of some of our most well-known cricketers. Langer was an inspirational and generous speaker to launch the 2008 series.

Bradley Trevor Greive, author of the Blue Day Book and many others titles that encourage self-esteem and perspective, shared his passion for environmental conservation and giving back to the community. His conservation work and support stretches across every continent in the world.

The subject What's happening to our girls? drew a large crowd to hear Maggie Hamilton talk about her extensive research which looks into the world of young girls and the pressures and influences that make them who they are. Her talk was informative, revealing and sometimes shocking. But it still acknowledged the courage and determination of today's generation of girls, who have faced more social change than previous generations.

Another big crowd greeted children's author Robert Muchamore as he arrived in style in a stretch Hummer to speak to his fans, some of whom had travelled from as far as Manjimup. Muchamore was impressed to have so many young fans attend and said on his blog that All Saints' College was his best event so far. He signed more than 1000 books before leaving the College much later than planned.

Coinciding with the Beijing Olympics, our next author Lijia Zhang told the story of her coming of age at a time when China was desperately trying to do the same. Zhang managed to escape her life as a factory worker after being involved in the Tiananmen Square protest, to become an international journalist and novelist.

Rounding off an amazing year of diverse and interesting authors was the return visit of Or Karl Kruszelnicki. Once again, Or Karl kept everyone entertained with his exploration of the world around us. Fun and unpredictable, we were happy to learn that the Large Hadron Collider would not destroy the earth just yet.

We look forward to joining with Oymocks to host another Evening with an Author Series in 2009.

Mrs Kris Williams Literature Festival Coordinator