Hi guys,
Just a quick note to let you know I’m appearing at the upcoming Melbourne Writers Festival (hurrah!) as part of the Schools Program and in the general program too. I am pretty excited about it and since I’ll be (mostly) talking about my latest book Son of Death I’ve been sorting through the best props to bring. This one will probably make the cut:
I’m doing two events as part of the Schools Program.
Tuesday 25th August, 12.30pm at ACMI The Cube, Federation Square
Andrew McDonald’s new book Son of Death is a rock n’ roll comedy about a family of grim reapers. Andrew will talk about how our attitudes to death have changed over time – and he’ll tell a funny, scary story.
And a workshop too.
Workshop: Laughs, Thrills and Kills
Wednesday 26th August, 11.15am at ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, behind Federation Square
Join Andrew McDonald as he shares his tips and tricks to writing imaginative, adventure stories with a twist of humour. With Andrew’s help students will create characters and decide on an odyssey for them to undertake. This workshop is sure to be as fun and action-packed as the stories it will produce.
I believe the workshop has sold out but there are still some tickets available for the Scary/Funny/Scary event. Get in quick though!
I’m also doing a couple of other events – one for the grown-ups, one for the less-so-grown.
Tuesday 25th August, 6.30pm at The Toff in Town, Melbourne
Join your favourite YA authors to celebrate the 150th birthday of one of literature’s weirdest classics: Alice in Wonderland. Bernard Beckett, Justine Larbalestier, Andrew McDonald, Allyse Near and Alice Pung will each respond to this subversive story in their own uniquely entertaining way. Hosted by MWF director Lisa Dempster.
The YA Salon is going to be a whole lotta fun. Mostly because I get to rub shoulders with all those famous YA authors (you guys have read Genesis by Bernard Beckett, right? It’s a YA classic!) but also because the salon is about Alice in Wonderland and who doesn’t want to jump on stage and riff about that strange and wonderful book. I expect things will get a little Mad if you catch my drift…
And finally, here’s a cool free event that I’m part of on the final weekend of the festival.
Sunday 30th August, from 10am (I’m on at 4pm) at the Story Peddlers Tent at Federation Square
Join some of Melbourne’s best loved children’s authors as they read from new work, old work or anything in between.
The Story Peddlers is a nifty project being run by children’s author Sally Rippin and coffee peddler Patrick Verdon and they’re bringing their wares to the writers festival. A range of great writers will be telling stories inside the tent over that final festival weekend – Saturday and Sunday. I expect it’ll be a great spot to rest with the kids for a few minutes and let some professional storytellers do their thing.
See you at the festival (hopefully)!