Category: Creative writing
Year 6 student Julian Henningsgaard won the Phillip Pendal Young Heritage Award for his essay Words From the Past, which shares the serendipitous connection between T.A.G. Hungerford and the MillPoint Caffé Bookshop. We are delighted to publish the essay for you to enjoy, too.
Mark Greenwood is a history hunter. He enjoys searching for lost explorers and glittering treasure, delving into baffling mysteries and investigating famous cold cases. In this piece, he shares his passion for the unexplained and how that resulted in a new series of books. Why these mysteries in particular? I’m hooked on mystery, history and […]
Holding a published copy of One Wrong Turn in my hands was a dream come true. I never entertained the idea of there being a sequel and the fact that it now exists is largely thanks to the enthusiasm of Australia’s dance community and of course, the wonderful team at Fremantle Press! Dance has been […]
The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin is the whopper doorstop of never-ending educational resources and inspiration for students ages 8–13. Here some activities for the classroom. Real-life issues/themes The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin is a supernatural fantasy of epic proportions, but wrapped up in all the haunting, high jinks and history lies an earnest and […]
Synchronicity – it’s a ‘thing’ for many authors. During the research and writing of each story in my historical ‘Light’ series I’ve experienced delightfully unnerving coincidences, making me wonder how books come about. Do I choose the story or does the story choose me? In the case of The Last Light Horse, perhaps it’s the […]
The Perth Festival Writers Weekend provided West Australian readers and writers with the opportunity to hear from a diverse range of authors, creators and professionals in the industry. I attended the Fremantle Press event ‘The Business of Being a Writer’ on a lovely Friday afternoon at the Fremantle Arts Centre. With the ever-evolving nature of […]
This term we asked some of our favourite writers to send us their top storytelling tips and tricks with a couple of writing exercises to boot. Take a look below and don’t forget to download your free poster for the classroom or order it from admin@fremantlepress.com.au.
In this interview Rebecca talks about the histories behind the history and how these might be used to stimulate classroom discussions, research and writing activities.
Storyathon for Kids Write a microstory that is exactly 100 words. This writing competition is open to children in years 3–8 during each school term. You can submit up to three stories for one competition, and you can enter all or just a few of the competitions run each year.
In 2015, I was well and truly sick of my book. The History of Mischief had been lingering with me since 2006, and progress was slow. It was often left for months, only for me to return to it, tinker a bit, and then abandon it for another lengthy period of time. I needed something to […]
Geraldton-born Western Australian writer Holden Sheppard is one of three writers shortlisted for the Prize for Writing for Young Adults in the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Holden is in the running to receive a $25,000 prize, as well as the overall Victorian Prize for Literature worth an additional $100,000, the single most valuable literary […]
Wednesday 5 June marks World Environment Day, which is a celebration of all built and natural environments across the planet. With an increasing focus on climate change, plastic use and sustainability, this is the perfect chance to open discussion on these topics in your classroom.
New year, new opportunities, and 2019 has plenty to offer when it comes to writing competitions for children and young adults.
Meet Me at the Intersection contributor Olivia Muscat was 13 when she began to lose her sight. Here she talks about how the Harry Potter series defined a pivotal moment in her life, coming to terms with being different and ways in which teachers can work with difference and disability in the classroom.
Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter and editor Armelle Davies paid a visit to Spearwood Alternative School on August 1 to present certificates and book vouchers to the winners of the Leanne Coole Young Writers Award.
Fremantle Press author Deb Fitzpatrick is a familiar face at many schools and writing workshops in and around Perth.
Behind every successful creator is a first story, a first line, a first drawing. James Foley’s passion for art started young, with a step-by-step drawing of Bart Simpson and some ‘public murals’ on and underneath the tables of his childhood home. These days, James writes and illustrates for a living, and regularly presents to schoolkids […]
Sometimes a book fits into a very specific genre – a genre whose covers have a very specific set of codes that signal to readers what they can expect to find in that book. We all know, for instance, what kind of material will be in a book featuring the upper body of Fabio. But […]
We’re all familiar with school sports carnivals but how familiar are you with writing competitions? This guest post by author Melinda Tognini discusses writing competitions for young people. It is a great resource for teachers who have talented young writers in their classrooms. A downloadable poster is also available.
What difference does it make if the characters in young adult novels swear? From time to time, publishers are contacted by parents or schools who are concerned by the appearance in YA fiction of (to quote an editor of T. S. Eliot) words ending in ‘uck’ or ‘ugger’.
Children’s publisher Cate Sutherland discusses the trials and the triumphs of publishing children’s picture books. The most common misconception about picture books is that because they are short and written for children they must be easy to write.
Dropping In author Geoff Havel discusses why political correctness and children’s fiction shouldn’t always go hand in hand.
West Australian teachers may already know Jen from the serialisation of Mystery at Riddle Gully in the Ed! Section of The West Australian. Her latest book Riddle Gully Runaway can be read as a follow-up to Mystery at Riddle Gully or as a stand-alone book.
Classified variously as young adult, ‘new adult’ and adult, Whisky Charlie Foxtrot is a great read for senior secondary students. In this post, we invite you to listen to author Annabel Smith as she reads from the novel. A student activity and comprehensive teaching notes are available below.