Conference...

This year's Early Years Literacy Conference will be held on Monday September 8th, 2008. Registrations will be taken from 8am with the Conference itself starting at 9am.

The Dinner will be held again this year on Sunday 7th September - drinks starting at 6pm and the dinner itself starting at 7pm. Graham Davey will be the Master of Ceremonies on the night - a great night is assured.

Location: Doherty Ballarat Lodge, 613 Main Road, Ballarat VIC 3350

Below is information regarding our guest speakers and other guests for the conference.

Graham Davey
Graham Davey is a well rounded presenter and performer, having entertained and informed both children and adults in a variety
of ways.

Graham began his working life as a teacher in England but quickly discovered that he could engage his students more effectively through performance rather than through “talk and chalk”. This passion soon became all encompassing and over the years, he changed his teacher’s hat for an entertainer’s and his home base from England
to Australia.

Graham now works as a performance storyteller, entertainer and a champion of the promotion of Australian children’s literature.

As a storyteller, Graham can present to listeners from pre school children through to adults, giving his audience a background in the oral tradition of story as well as entertaining them with examples of the craft – the stories themselves. His alter ego, Galosh the Gnome, is a sure fire favourite with younger audiences.

Anne Stewart
Anne fell into storytelling in 1977, when she was working as the assistant children’s librarian at Geelong. It was her lot to drive the Jolly Jumbuck storytelling van to various sites around the area, gather the children and tell them a story. She discovered she was good at it.

The turning point in Anne’s career came with her first job as children’s librarian at Darwin Library. That period set her on a quest to find the stories of Australia. For more than 20 years, Anne has worked with indigenous storytellers and others to build her bank of tales about convicts, pastoralists, gold, immigration, local people
and local places.

She has plumbed the resources of the Australiana Room at the Central Highlands Regional Library; she regularly tells stories in the Fine Art Gallery, is a producer for ABC Radio Ballarat and has completed several story projects through the ABC’s Regional Production Fund.

Anne has developed stories and programs for the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Museum of Australia and has spoken at several conferences for the International Museums Theatre Alliance. At the fourth biennial IMTAL Conference in October, 2005, Anne was invited to tell her family’s story of its relationship with East Timor and the death at Balibo in 1975 of her eldest brother, Tony.
These words are excerpts from Amongst Ballarat's finest: a showcase of achievement and contribution by Ballarat's women / [editors, Dinah McCance, Colin Taylor, Women's Health Grampians].

Geoff Bonney & Peter Widmer
RAtARtAt is:

- The collaboration in Art and Design by Geoff Bonney and Peter Widmer.
- Based in Ballaarat.
- In a forcefully provincial mood, proving without doubt, that art comes from the most surprising places.

Both Geoff and Peter each came to the partnership with years of diligent work behind them in fields other than art.

Geoff was a seaman and explorer, travelling extensively before finding that the compassionate world of Advertising offered a more stable and friendly milieu. Stumbling, he discovered the Fine Art world and no longer drinks Sauvignon Banc.

Peter, on the other hand, found that years of clearing tables for other people and cleansing their surfaces gave him a crystal clear vision of the future – Art.

Geoff and Peter are fiercely old fashioned and like to use, amongst other things, traditional techniques and materials like plastic chairs, bales of straw, fruit bins and recycled blankets. They have always been interested in the making of books as they are gadgets you can use lying down.

They believe that- In a time when things of the Creative Spirit are too often sacrificed for the apparently Rational - we like to assist in the restoration of the imagination to a prime seat at the head of the table: so, in appropriate materials, with apt ideas, we make unexpected works that fit.

Leigh Hobbs
Leigh was born in Melbourne in 1953 but grew up in a country town called Bairnsdale. At school he was hopeless at Sport and Maths and positively dangerous in Science. Fortunately, he showed a spark or two in the subjects he enjoyed most then and is still most passionate about now: Art and
English history.

Leigh’s artwork stretches across a wide range of art mediums. He has made animated films, supervised the restoration of a carousel and created sculptures for Sydney’s Luna Park, as well as designing the colour scheme for the entrance to Melbourne’s Luna Park.

He is perhaps best known for the children’s books he has written and illustrated featuring his characters Old Tom, Horrible Harriet, Fiona the Pig, The FREAKS in 4F and Mr Chicken. Of course, there is a little of Leigh in all of these characters. Though he has a fondness for dogs rather than cats, Leigh would probably admit that Old Tom is close to his heart. In any case, Old Tom is more of a Tasmanian Devil mixed with a Blue Heeler dog than a cat.

Meredith Costain
Meredith Costain is a versatile writer whose work ranges from picture books through to popular fiction and non-fiction for older readers. Her books include a number of titles in the popular ‘Aussie Nibbles’ series, and Musical Harriet, which was adapted for television by the ABC.

Doodledum Dancing, illustrated by Pamela Allen, was an Honour Book in the Early Childhood section of the 2007 CBCA awards.

Meredith is also the literary editor of national student magazines Comet, Explore and Challenge and has written extensively for the education market, particularly for emergent readers.

For more details, visit www.meredithcostain.com

Also launching her newest book.

Special Guests - TRIIIKE
Triiike is a group of illustrators who collaborate to produce works in the name of creativity and visual experimentation.
Triiike's method, media and subject matter vary from "tag team" manual illustrations, to digital character design.

At the core of Triiike is Ben, Sam & Trav. All three have been artists since they were young and have extensive experience in commercial illustration and design, with a solid knowledge of traditional, digital, print, web and animation processes.

See: www.triiike.com