LitFest 2013 After much planning, the inaugural SJC LitFest was in full swing from August 21-28. The event was a joint initiative of the English Faculty and Library. Eleven authors/artists and the Bell Shakespeare Company performing “Macbeth Undone” brought an amazing variety of creative talent to the College. While the emphasis was on literature there were also fringe performers including singer-songwriters/musicians, graphic artists/novelists, comedians and a hip hop dancer. There were eight workshops per day and lunchtime activities including a Spelling Battle, Short Film Festival and the “Great Debate” between students and staff . A LitFest website was established on CampusGuides to promote the event and manage bookings. The site attracted 2613 visitors. We are indebted to the Bell Shakespeare performers, Declan Fay, Scot Gardner,Arch Ilias,Archie Fusillo, Frank Jones, Valanga Khoza, Sue Lawson, Kate McLennan, Mandy Ord, Tim Pegler and Michael Pryor for inspiring our students and staff. Many students enthusiastically embraced the event. We are also very grateful to our dedicated staff for supporting this initiative and encouraging students to participate. Let’s hope we can stage similar events in the future which will continue to challenge, inform and excite our students about literature and its many, varied and often unexpected forms of expression. Paul Devine - Library Manager & Margot Davies - English Coordinator LITFEST STAFF VS STUDENT DEBATE I had the honour of this year adjudicating the Student vs. Staff LitFest great debate. I had never adjudicated such a debate but was ready to give it a go. The topic was “Facebook has damaged our lives forever” but here’s the twist - the students were arguing against it and the staff were arguing for it. We kicked off with Linda Bentley as the first representative for the staff team. It was a rocky start, however Mrs Bentley’s manner was impeccable. The debate continued with student Ryan Bentley (coincidently, Linda’s son) attempting to rebut the argument. His speech was well written and perfectly articulated. The second speaker for the staff team was Ash Humphries and oh boy was he a crack up. His use of humour combined with interaction with the audience made a great second speaker. He scored the highest thus far. But then came student Thomas Howell, who presented a very good rebuttal case. Paul Clohesy our Deputy Principal came to represent the staff in their Valanga Khoza sharing his stories and his music
final bid to win the debate. He demonstrated to the audience his stance very well and scored well. Jack Callahan summarised the student’s team arguments; he was hilarious and made the entire crowd laugh. Overall only one team could win, and even though I gave the staff team a handicap, they pulled through and beat the students by 2 points. This debate was one to remember and thanks to all involved. Russell Waters The following student comments were recorded immediately after LitFest workshops when students responded with their impressions of the author/performer. We saw Arch llias, he taught us some dance moves and some stuff that takes a lot of time. He taught us about the history of pop and all the clans that do break dancing, it’s not just freestyle - you have to do it to the music. It was really cool. Really good, so cool, fantastic, we learnt a lot of stuff about the great author Sue Lawson, amazing. She taught us how to do different ideas for writing and how to write a good story and how to put ideas on a mind map e.g. when, where, who and how - just an amazing experience. We saw Valanga Khoza, he had been in South Africa, he was in a refugee camp, he played us music and sang and he gave us real insight into his history and music. He is really inspirational, from what he told us he has been through a lot. He showed us how to play various traditional instruments, like the drum, some sort of guitar that he made while living over there in a refugee camp. Mandy Ord certainly has talent and was very informative. It was good to see the way she perceived life and just put it in her drawings. She is really good at what she does with the graphic novels and all that. She has got her own style and her own everything, it’s just great. I saw Archie Fusillo, who is actually a great author, and he opened my eyes to some things I haven’t even seen yet, even as an aspiring author. We just saw Michael Pryor and he was a really good author. He writes fantasy and I liked his creativity, his enthusiasm and his work.
Frank Jones running a songwriting workshop
Student LItFest posts on CampusGuides “Our class loved Arch Ilias because he was amazing. He taught us how to do break dancing and simple basics to get started. At the end of the period he showed us what he can do - he’s practically a rolling ball! Looked awesome. Thanks. - Jack Keating, Year 8 “Mandy Ord was great, really fun and interesting.” - Jack Paterson Year 11
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Break dancing with Arch Ilias 73
