What’s happening in June…

Rosanne Hawke’s children’s novel, Taj and the Great Camel Trek, has been shortlisted in the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards 2012. Rosanne will also be presenting at Voices on the Coast Writers’ Festival on the Sunshine Coast this week.

Sally Heinrich has been chosen as one of fifty artists who will each design and decorate a life-sized baby elephant as part of Melbourne Zoo’s 150th birthday celebrations. The sculptures will be displayed throughout the streets of Melbourne during August and September.

May news…

Katrina Germein‘s book ‘Baby Gets Dressed’ (illustrated by Sascha Hutchinson and published by Working Title Press) has just been reprinted and will be available in shops again from May.

Ruth Starke and Greg Holfeld‘s series of graphic novels featuring Captain Congo now has its own video trailer. You can see it on Youtube here and on Vimeo here. The clip can be downloaded in HD from the Vimeo page, or it can be embedded onto another site from either.

What’s happening…

Chris Tugwell‘s puppet play ‘Finding Home’, as part of the Together4Kids child-focused homelessness program, was a finalist in the Federal Government’s 2012 Homelessness Services Achievement Awards.

Rosanne Hawke’s new novels The Messenger Bird and Mountain Wolf will be celebrated in Kapunda by Phil Cummings and Vikki Wakefield on Sunday, 6 May 2012 at 2 pm in the Kapunda Institute. Celtic fiddler Jeri Foreman and Celtic Daughters will be performing. All welcome.

Ruth Starke will launch Rosanne’s Mountain Wolf at the CBCA conference on Thursday, 17 May at the evening welcome reception. You need to be a CBCA delegate to attend.

Marianne Musgrove’s book, The Worry Tree, is being rereleased as part of Random House Australia’s Vintage Classics series alongside such titles as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Little Women and The Secret Garden.

April news…

Robert Moore’s novella Pecking Disorder has been accepted in the US by MLR Press, New York.

Congratulations to eKIDnas Vikki Wakefield and Rosanne Hawke, also Penny Matthews and Katherine Battersby for having books in the CBCA 2012 Notables list.

‘Littledog’ on Play School…

Katrina Germein‘s picture book ‘Littledog’ will be broadcast on Play School on Wednesday 11 April at 9.30 am on ABC2.

Ruth Starke’s story ‘Only A Game’ is included in Penguin’s new anthology Things A Map Won’t Show You (Susan LaMarca, Pam Macintyre, eds.), published this month.

Janeen Brian‘s story ‘After that night’ was awarded second prize in the Blue Dingo Press competition for ‘Short Horror’. It will be published in the April edition of Blue Dingo Press eMagazine.

March update…

Sally Heinrich is one of the two winners of the 2012 Ian Reed Foundation residencies for radio drama, with ABC Radio National. Congratulations, Sally!

Rosanne Hawke had a great time at the Somerset Celebration of Literature Festival on the Gold Coast last week. The tents were reminiscent of Adelaide Writers’ Week except it was all for young people.

Allayne Webster held an ‘in conversation’ event with Fiona McIntosh at Rundle Mall Dymocks on Wednesday, 21 March. Allayne interviewed Fiona about her latest adult novel, The Lavender Keeper (soon to be followed by Luc’s Promise.) Fiona also talked about her forthcoming children’s novel, the sequel to her 2009 release The Whisperer.

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature…

Adelaide Writers’ Week is over already but the Adelaide Festival continues. Congratulations to everyone involved with Writers’ Week – Laura Kroetsch, our own Sean Williams, all the local, interstate and overseas writers who took part in the program.

Well done to all the shortlisted writers and the eventual winners of the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, in particular, eKIDnas:

Rosanne Hawke was awarded the Children’s Literature Award for her novel Taj and the Great Camel Trek.

Vikki Wakefield was awarded the Young Adult Fiction Award for All I Ever Wanted.

Janeen Brian was awarded the Carclew Fellowship for the development of a three pieces of work; an historical picture book, a poetry-picture book and an anthology of children’s poems.

Congratulations also to fellow South Aussies Nicki Bloom and Margaret Merrilees.