Read Alert

Publisher David Fickling accepted the Carnegie Medal, posthumously awarded to Siobhan Dowd, for Bog Child. This is a must see speech. And a must read book.

This weekend, the New South Wales Writers Centre gets its festival thing on with a line-p of top shelf children’s and YA writers.

Garth Nix, James Roy, Melina Marchetta, Tohby Riddle are among the writers taking part in two days of workshops, panels, encounters with publishing professionals and more. I am particularly taken with the panel titled The X-Factor, rules for children’s writing, which has Ursula Dubosarsky and publisher Leonie Tyle spilling the beans. It’s a great looking program.

More here at the NSWWC.

Next Saturday the world’s greatest bike race kicks off in Monaco. A mere 3,459.5 kiliometres around the hexagon.

Boys, blokes, books and bytes offers suggested reading with a French connection. A tout vitesse!

Some good news to end the day. A new survey of American tweens (aged 8-15) shows that the death of book may be some way off.

Actually, a long way off.

(Thanks, Tina.)

Melbourne, as we know, can be a little bit obsessed with footy. Casy Cardinia Library has caught the bug and launched a reading program with the Melbourne Football Club, aka the Demons.

Read Like a Demon is for boys and girls and provides events, activities, a blog and some great role models from the Demons. As one of the world’s oldest registered sporting clubs, the Demons last year found themselves new to the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Looking for good community partners, they found, of course, the library. Read Like a Demon kicked off last night with a launch event with Specky Magee author Felice Arena, Chris Connelly (General Manager, Football Operations), players Stefan Martin and Lynden Dunn and more than 60 children and parents.

For more about this program, visit the Read Like a Demon blog.

Yesterday John Green blogged about the slide in popularity of perennial YA poster boy Holden Caulfied.

Today, Anthony Eaton takes it a step further, drilling down in some detail into the changing demographics from which the YA readership grows.

All the news that’s fit to print. Here.

Also reported from the Australian Booksellers Conference, book sales last year were up three percent. Children’s and YA were up, too, even accounting for the Stephanie Meyer factor. Counting in Stephanie Meyer, it seems sales year to date are up nine percent. Wow. That’s a big chunk of the market for one author! Adult fiction flat and non-fiction falling. Thank you, Twitter.

You bet! The school sessions are all booked out so this your last chance: Thursday 30 July at the State Library of Victoria, the Centre for Youth Literature presents:

Shakespeare: Raising the Bard (a panel discussion)

With Andy Griffiths, John Marsden, Tony Thompson and Jenny Lovell

Get to know Shakespeare old and new at this panel discussion featuring two of Australia’s leading writers for young people. Andy Griffiths collaborated with the Bell Shakespeare Company to produce Just Macbeth, and John Marsden was inspired to write his own take on Hamlet. They will be joined by Tony Thompson, teacher and author of Shakespeare: The Most Famous Man in London, and director and actor Jenny Lovell, who trained and performed at the Globe Theatre in London.

Time: 6.30–8.30pm (7pm start)

Venue: Village Roadshow Theatrette, State Library of Victoria (Entry 3, La Trobe Street)

Bookings: 03 8664 7555 or learning@slv.vic.gov.au

Cost: $15, adults, $7 students

Tomorrow When the War Began, John Marsden’ hugely popular series about a group of teenagers holding out against invading forces, is set to be made into a movie. Filming is expected to begin in September.

More about the movie here.

Where would film-makers be without authors? Publishers call it vertical integration…I call it the need for decent storytellers. There is the distinct possibility of another highly popular Pan Macmillan writer whose debut novel will be made into a television series. Can’t say more just yet.

Arts Victoria will be out promoting its popular Artists in Schools program, which provides for up to 20 days working with a selected group of students.  Writers have been under-represented in recent years, so Arts Victoria is keen to hear from suitably experienced writers and illustrators. You find all details of July’s free information sessions here, and everything else you need.