Secondary Schools Program - download the booking form

Festival Program for Secondary Schools

 Thursday, August 3, 2006

 Note: this program is confirmed at time of going to print but some changes may be unavoidable. A copy of the final program will be faxed through to all participating schools prior to the event on Thursday, August 3.

2006 Byron Bay Writers Festival

Who Will Be There?

 Deborah Abela is the author of the Max Remy Superspy and Jasper Zammit (Soccer Legend) series. Before she started writing novels about superspies and soccer legends, Deborah travelled the world and wrote for kids’ TV.

Jennifer Cook is passionate about myth and has written two young adult novels, Ariadne and Persephone. Her first picture book, The Screaming Irrits, is out in September.

Nick Earls is the author of ten books, including three novels featuring teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children's Book Council in 2000, and went into production as a film in Brisbane in August 2005.

Andy Griffiths is one of the country’s most successful writers of humour for young people. His popular Just … series has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and his latest book, The Bad Book, won four Australian children’s choice awards in 2005

Ann Kelley is a prize-winning poet from Cornwall . She has written six novels under a pseudonym and her latest novel, The Burying Beetle, is her first under her real name.

Christopher Kremmer is a journalist and novelist whose most recent book, Inhaling The Mahatma, is about India . Christopher has also written best-selling books about Laos and Afghanistan and is an authority on Asia ’s tumultuous journey from tradition to modernity.

Mardi McConnochie is the author of several plays and her first novel, Coldwater, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Melissa, Queen of Evil, is her first novel for younger readers.

Scott Monk A reluctant reader during high school, Scott now writes gritty Australian fiction about crime, heartache, footy and gangs aimed at similar teenagers. His books include Raw, The Crush and The Never Boys ­ – all aimed at reluctant readers.

Kirsty Murray writes historical fiction for younger readers. Her latest novel, A Prayer for Blue Delaney, is the third title in the Children of the Wind saga; a series of historical fiction that spans 150 of Australian history.

Garth Nix is the award-winning bestselling author of The Old Kingdom Trilogy and The Keys to the Kingdom series, amongst other books. More than 3.5 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.

Creed O’Hanlon is a media futurist. The founder and former CEO of Spike Networks, Creed is an internationally recognised opinion leader in popular culture and marketing and an accomplished documentary maker and photojournalist. He is the eldest son of best-selling author Morris West.

Shaun Tan began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories as a teenager and has since received numerous awards for his picture books, including the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) Picture Book of the Year Award for The Rabbits with John Marsden.

Nury Vittachi’s latest book for young adults is The Amazing Life of Dead Eric. Nury enjoys trans-media stories and also writes for movies, computer games and comics. He was born in Ceylon and now lives with his English wife and three Chinese children in Hong Kong .

Sam Wagan Watson’s first collection of poetry, Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight , was the winner of the 1999 David Unaipon award for emerging Indigenous writers. Content from Itinerant Blues is currently on the NSW HSC whilst Smoke Encrypted Whispers won the 2005 New South Wales Premier’s Book of the Year and the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize. Sam is currently working on a young adult fiction novel, Dead on Arrival.