Inspired by her involvement
in the CBCA Tasmania’s Tasmanian Authors & Illustrators in Schools program,
Christina Booth prompts us all to seek the inner storyteller within us all. It
is little wonder that her school visits are inspirational!
How wonderful to hear
of the funding awarded to CBCA Tasmania branch to assist schools hosting
authors (illustrators are authors too) for workshops and visits across the
state. This is such a great opportunity, especially for those schools who have
never experienced a school visit before.
Once you have had an
author visit your school, you will be hooked. The difference in how your
students approach writing and reading and visual narrative is immediately
obvious, and it also inspires the entire school community for a long time.
It is like going on
your first cruise (so I am told, not having been on one): you will become
addicted because of the outstanding positive benefits across the whole school
community.
I am very excited to
have been one of the many authors visiting schools since early July. I gain
greatly from these visits too. Being a cave dwelling creator, it is always good
for the creative soul to get out into the daylight and be replenished by
meeting your audience and sharing and inspiring writers and readers of all
ages. One of the things I love is hearing stories from others and discussing
the stories I have created.
This year, one of my
focuses and passions has been to talk to students of all ages about
storytelling. Not just in books, but how important it is to our families,
communities and society.
Are you a storyteller?
This is where I start
when talking about storytelling. Because in an era when we tend to sit and wait
for others to do things for us to enjoy and experience, we often fail at seeing
ourselves as storytellers.
Everyone is a storyteller.
Everyone is a storyteller.
We talk about the
importance of stories, what we gain from them, how they help us to learn about
our world, ourselves and each other. We share a great list of ways we can tell
stories, including books, and how every day we add to our own story by hearing
other people’s stories as well.
Are you a story collector?
The collection of
stories is so important. We can’t begin to be good storytellers if we can’t
collect stories. We need to collect them from what we see and hear, what makes
us sad and happy and everything in between. We collect stories so they stay
alive, because stories are alive. Everyone is a story collector.
We are story keepers.
In order to be a good
storyteller and a story collector, we must be story keepers. The protectors of
stories, our own and those entrusted to us. We are all story keepers.
This all sounds like a lot of hard work!
It can sound a bit
overwhelming to know that we are and need to be these things. In fact, it
sounds a lot like a scene from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The good
news is that it isn’t. When we realise that we are these things, nothing
changes except our awareness of our role, our abilities and that we need to be
aware of them and practice them. As we sit back and watch and read and listen
to the stories of others, we have become a society that has forgotten our own
role in this important part of our humanity.
*** Stories glue us
together.
*** Stories help us not to
repeat the same mistakes.
*** Stories help us to
learn in a safe environment.
*** Stories help us to
grow into a person with a voice.
*** Storytelling keeps
stories alive through the generations.
Letting children and reminding the adults in the room that this is our role, in whatever format we can, I begin to open doors to confident storytelling and believing in what we do. This is what I try to show in my workshops and presentations at schools.
I am about to embark on an exciting month in a public Hobart primary school, funded fully by their P&F fundraising, as an artist in residence. We are focusing on these elements and growing our skills, the whole school community, not just the students, in order to create stories in different formats. For three days a week I will work alongside the students, parents and staff to create our stories, be they a picture book, a short story, a newspaper or magazine story, a visual narrative or an oral presentation.
We will all be
*** Story collectors,
*** Story keepers and
ultimately,
*** Storytellers.
I wish you all well as
you do the same.
Trust yourselves, make
amazing discoveries and celebrate this amazing part of our humanity.
Christina Booth
Story collector, keeper and teller in her talks to readers and within her extraordinary picture books.
Story collector, keeper and teller in her talks to readers and within her extraordinary picture books.
We held the CBCA Tas AGM today. This post fits beautifully with the discussions held at the Book Week Grant Committee meeting which followed the AGM. We discussed the need for providing children with the opportunity to see themselves as creators of stories, and not just passive receivers. As the guest speaker at the AGM Daniel Gray-Barnett shared his journey from being an 11 year old wanting to be a writer...and then after a few other careers...now having come to that career. Perfect post for today!
ReplyDeleteChristina is a popular presenter with the capacity to inspire students and adults alike. She encourages students to continue to explore possibilities and see themselves as capable of creating stories that begin from within and reflect who they are. Thanks Christina for your expertise and generosity.
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