Since the publication of Nan Chauncy’s They Found a Cave in 1947, the flora and fauna of Tasmania and its offshore islands have provided fertile imaginative grounds for writers of environmental children’s literature. At this session, some of this state’s most successful children’s book creators talk about how, growing up Tasmanian or moving to Tasmania later in life, has shaped their careers as writers and/or illustrators of books for children.
Join Coral Tulloch, Christina Booth, Anne Morgan and Nicole Gill in this session, chaired by Fiona Levings and supported by SCBWI – the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Tasmania.*
| *SCBWI is also hosting a Children’s Book Creators’ Networking Event at the Festival. All welcome! |
|
 |
BRING A BOOK! Children’s/YA authors who have had an environmental themed book published are invited to bring their books to this session for display and conversation. Business cards, flyers etc. providing ‘where to buy’ information are also welcome. These can also be displayed at the SCBWI Networking Event in the afternoon (see link above). |
The Presenters
Nicole Gill
Nicole Gill is a Tasmanian writer and environmental management specialist. Her writings on nature, humans and other animals have featured in a broad range of publications, including The Monthly, Island, The Guardian, and The Best Australian Science Writing 2016. Nicole has been awarded writing residencies at Lake St Clair National Park and at the historic Boyd homestead at Bundanon, NSW. Her recent essays have been shortlisted for the Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing, and the Tasmanian Wildcare Nature Writing Prize. Her book for children, Animal Eco-Warriors, was published by CSIRO Publishing, in 2017.
Find out more/follow Nicole at @tasbiophiliac on Twitter, and on Facebook. If you’d like Nicole to visit your school, have a look at the Australian Society of Authors’ Authors in Schools program.
Coral Tulloch
Coral has illustrated and/or written 63 fiction and non-fiction books for children, published in Australia and internationally. She has studied art and illustration in places as exotic as Prague and Florence, and also travelled multiple times to Antarctica, first as an Arts Fellow with the Australian Antarctic Division, and then as an artist-in-residence on tourist voyages. As well as producing numerous books, games, articles and exhibitions inspired by these experiences, Coral’s Antarctica, The Heart of the World, which she wrote and illustrated, won the Environment Award for Children’s Literature in 2004. Coral posts occasionally on Facebook, where you can find some fun interactive worksheets shared for kids in lockdown last year.
DON’T MISS: Coral will also be reading from her children’s books as part of the FREE children’s program, on Parliament Lawns.
Christina Booth
Christina originally trained as a teacher and landscape artist. Her career began working as an illustrator to some fantastic authors like Colin Thiele, Max Fatchen and Christobel Mattingly. Her picture book, Kip, was awarded a CBCA Honour Book Award and Christina has won numerous Notable Book Awards, and The Environment Award for Children’s Literature for her stories, Welcome Home and One Careless Night. Find out more on Christina’s website.
DON’T MISS: Christina will also be reading from her children’s books as part of the FREE children’s program, on Parliament Lawns, on both the Saturday and Sunday of the Festival.
Anne Morgan
Dr Anne Morgan is a well-published children’s author who lives on Bruny Island, Tasmania. She has worked as a journalist, public sector administrator, teacher and professional actor, and has a PhD in Writing and a Master of Education. In 2014 she won the Environment Children’s Book of the Year Award for junior fiction, for The Smallest Carbon Footprint in the Land. Find out more on Anne’s website and here.
DON’T MISS THESE OTHER CHANCES TO HEAR ANNE:
- Anne will be reading from her new book, the Way of the Weedy Seadragon at the Maritime Museum on Sunday.
- Anne will also read from her ‘Captain Clawbeak‘ series, as part of the FREE children’s program, on Parliament Lawns, on both the Saturday and Sunday of the Festival.
Fiona Levings
Fiona Levings is a mother, geologist, duck-wrangling, chicken-chasing, dog-walker who also writes and illustrates children’s picture books. Occasionally, she gets left alone for long enough to sneak off to her studio and work on a picture or two. Fiona works by hand using ink, brush and pen; her work can be found in The Moonbow, Dad’s Wishing the Rain Would Come, and her most recent book Now and Then. You can follow her on Facebook and Instagram @TheMoonbowMaker or visit her (occasional) blog site fionalevings.blogspot.com.
DON’T MISS: Fiona will also be reading her book Now and Then during the FREE children’s events on Parliament Lawns, on both the Saturday and Sunday of the Festival.