Family event to celebrate literacy and language
The community is invited to join much-loved children’s authors, poets and academics in a celebration of literacy and multilingualism at Western Sydney University’s upcoming Family Fun Day.
The free event at the University’s Parramatta South campus on Saturday, 7 September, will mark International Literacy Day with family-friendly workshops, Roald Dahl themed movie screenings and lots of activities including a jumping castle, face painting, craft and live music.
Leading children’s authors including Tim Harris, who writes the laugh-out-loud series Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables and Exploding Endings, and Western Sydney University alumnus, Matt Cosgrove, who pens the adventures of Macca the Alpaca, will both host workshops.
“It is so important to recognise and celebrate literacy which is such an incredible gift that everyone should be able to share. It enriches our lives and opens so many doors through education, empowerment, empathy and entertainment,” said Matt.
“My talks are always about encouraging creativity through reading, writing and drawing. As well as sharing the stories behind my books, I demonstrate how easy it is to do fun, fast drawings of some of my favourite characters.”
To explore one of the key themes for International Literacy Day — multilingualism — story-telling in Arabic will take place during the event. Raaza Jamshed, a writer and a Doctor of Creative Arts candidate at Western Sydney University, will also present a creative writing workshop on Multilingualism and Identity.
Older children can participate in an interactive How to Make Change workshop run by the Whitlam Institute and a Flash Poetry session with slam poet, Dante Florez.
To register for the event, please visit the Family Fun Day website (opens in a new window).
ENDS
4 September 2019
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