Contributors

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

What I'm grateful for in Arrernte country today...



1. CLIC: I’m grateful for the invitation to be a guest writer at the Children’s Literature in the Centre festival, hosted by the NT Children’s Book Council. My days are full of creative kids (Yrs 4,5,6) all creating characters and settings. It’s hard core and it reminds me of the intensely difficult job teachers have!
2. BATCHELORS: I don’t mean single capable men – of course that is spelled differently – although I’d be grateful for a few of those in Alice Springs also. But I’m actually talking about the students I met with from Batchelor College. Frederick Buckskin, Susan Baxter and David Warria had a yarn, a cuppa and some cheesecake with me as I explained my writing and publishing history and suggested ways for them to move forward with their own writing careers/ hobbies. David reckons he saw Avoiding Mr Right being talked about on telly earlier in the year, so he got a gold star for that contribution to the discussion. I was also impressed that he is currently reading Not Meeting Mr Right! See pic above.
3. ARCHIE FUSILLO: The best thing about doing festivals is catching up with friends who live in other cities. I was excited to see the fabulous Archie Fusillo again after meeting for the first time at the Ourimbah Festival on the Central Coast of NSW in 2006 and then again at the Ipswich Festival in QLD in 2007. You can book this dynamic Melbourne-based author for your school or festival. He is very funny...
4. NAKED PEOPLE KNOCKING ON MY DOOR: Well, you can imagine my surprise this morning when there was a knock on the door and there stood a naked writer, wrapped in a tan towel asking for shampoo. I guess it’s an original variation on borrowing the cup of sugar. I think the point here is that they were grateful I actually travel with two bottles of shampoo. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea.
5. FIVE STAR HOTELS: No, I’m not staying in one, and in all honesty I am grateful simply for a warm be and a roof over my head. But there are some days when I am reminded of how grateful I am when I get to stay in a fancy hotel; especially when I am heading to reception at 7am searching out an iron and hairdryer when it’s still dark in the morning.

2 comments:

Sandy O'Sullivan said...

Yay... you got to meet some of the fantastic Batchelor Institute students! How great for them! You're a bloody big inspiration Dr Anita!

Dr Anita Heiss said...

Hey Sandy! The students were fab, wish I had more time with them. They inspired me and reminded me of why we do what we do. And back at ya re inspiration. See you EVENTUALLY!