The New Zealand Book Council wants your help to crowd-fund a
Speed Date an Author workshop for budding young writers in
Porirua.
This October, over 50 students from schools across Porirua
will have the chance to take the fast lane to top creative talent when they
‘speed date’ a roomful of brilliant authors, including Kate De Goldi, Mandy
Hager and Karlo Mila. But this will only become possible with your help to
secure enough funds to cover costs.
Students and schools are keen to take part and the Book
Council have authors at the ready. The Book Council are seeking financial
pledges, big or small, via crowd-funding site Pledge Me.
They need your help to raise $3,815 by the end of July to cover the full cost
of the event and ensure that all participating junior high school students can
attend for free.
Speed Date an Author is one of the Book Council’s
most in-demand workshops for budding writers and readers. So far over 400
students have been inspired by the energetic and fun format: ‘I really
enjoyed the day. What I loved was that I learnt a lot there and it was very
fun. A lowlight was when it all finished.’ – Comment by an Auckland Speed
Date participant
Six of New Zealand’s top writers each deliver quickfire
creative coaching to groups of students during a Speed Date event. The
mentoring writers help the students hone their creative skills in generating
ideas, constructing plot, developing character, creating atmosphere and playing
with words, among other topics, in their 20-minute sessions with the children.
Porirua has a thriving artistic scene, and is home to a host
of successful and inspiring writers and artists. With a brand new Writer’s Walk
in the works and a supportive creative community, Porirua is an ideal place to
run Speed Date an Author. The workshop will fire up the imaginations of
our next generation of storytellers by enabling students from low-decile
schools in the area the chance to take inspiration from master writers.
If you have a passion for reading and the fostering of
literary talent, you are invited to pledge your support here
for Speed Date an Author – not only are you supporting an exciting and
valuable programme, you are also helping the Book Council to boost the creative
future of New Zealand.
Click through to pledge your
support for Speed Date an Author and to find out more about
crowd-funding this exciting programme.
Pledge your support here: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/Crowd/Details/181
For further information please contact Sarah
Forster, Education Manager for the NZ Book Council, (04) 801 5546, education@bookcouncil.org.nz, or
Rachel O’Neill, Web and Social Media Project Manager, rachel@bookcouncil.org.nz
Information about Crowd-funding and Pledge Mme
Crowd-funding is a popular and powerful new way for
individuals and groups to get new ventures off the ground. Earlier this year
screenwriter-director Taika Waititi used crowd-funding – small donations from
friends, fans and other interested parties – to secure the funds he needed to
screen his hit film Boy in the US. The Book Council hopes this Speed
Date event will be the first of many extra workshops we can offer schools
with the help of supporters on the Pledge Me site.
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