Booked Out’s April Twilight Seminar with Maxine Beneba Clarke is now at capacity.

If you missed out this time, don’t despair – watch this space, as we will be announcing more VCE events in the future. Give us a call or send us an email at bookings@bookedout.com.au to be added to the waitlist, and we can notify you of future events.

If you have secured a spot for your school, we look forward to seeing you and your students at the Library at the Dock on April 30.

Welcome to Term 2, teachers and librarians from Victoria and Queensland!

We hope you are feeling rested, relaxed and refreshed after your two-week break, and that you had the chance to curl up with a good book in between marking and preparation sessions. It is a suitably autumnal rainy day in Melbourne today, which has all of us at Booked Out HQ wishing we could hibernate under our doonas just a little longer….

But the show must go on! It’s not too late to get in for Book Week 2018 – there are still plenty of wonderful local authors, illustrators and storytellers available for August and beyond.

Before you get caught up in the whirlwind of the school term, feel free to get in touch and we can help you get the ball rolling on your speaker visits, provide recommendations, or chat about the best person to send your way in 2018.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Attention all VCE English and Literature Teachers!

Booked Out is excited to announce that we will be hosting a Twilight Seminar with Maxine Beneba Clarke, who will be speaking on her short story collection Foreign Soil.

This unique event will allow VCE students to deepen their understanding of Foreign Soil. Maxine’s comprehensive sixty-minute talk will cover the writing process, and discuss the works’ themes of race, resilience and diversity. This will be followed by a Q&A session.

With limited availability, this talk will be a ‘first-in, best-dressed’ event. Located at the Library at the Dock, this event is accessible via the Number 11 or 48 tram, or a 20 minute walk from Southern Cross station.

All the details are below:

Date: Monday, 30th April 2018
Time: 4.30pm – 6.30pm, with a 5.00pm start
Venue: Library at the Dock, 107 Victoria Harbour Promenade, Docklands 3008
Cost: $15.00 pp, incl. GST
RSVP: Friday, 20th April 2018

For further enquiries, please call Georgia Atkinson or Christina Cox on 03 9824 0177.

To secure your place at this event, please download and fill out the booking form, and email it to bookings@bookedout.com.au.

We look forward to seeing you and your VCE students there!

Today is International Women’s Day, so of course, let’s shout it out!

This year’s theme, #PressforProgress, demonstrates that across the world women are making positive gains day by day. From moving towards equality in sport, to championing the brilliant work of women in literature, we are thrilled to add the Booked Out voice in supporting all women to live freely and wholly.

Today we would also like to especially shout out to our friends at #codelikeagirl  who are working with Vodafone to help girls advance in STEM.

We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of women past to #PressforProgress. We can never forget the efforts of our forebears (including the Suffragettes pictured) in bringing us to the point we are at now.

So, to all our speakers, schools and friends who are championing International Women’s Day today, we salute you!

Last week, three Booked Out agents were thrilled to attend the CBCA Night of Notables, to get in on the latest action from the Children’s Book Council of Australia (VIC).

The evening was kicked off by Sarah Mayer Cox, primary school teacher and Lecturer in Education at LaTrobe University, who took us through the evolution of Book Week in Victoria, with some hilarious Book Week stories from her time as a primary teacher. We then heard from passionate creatives Demet Divaroren and Adam Wallace, who gave us some insight into the artists’ perspective and how they keep inspired.

The most exciting moment of the evening was, of course, the announcement of the CBCA Notable Titles for 2018 – and we were so excited to see so many Booked Out speakers on the list. Click through to see this year’s selection – the judges have some tough choices ahead of them!

Thank you to the CBCA for a wonderful evening celebrating the importance of Australian children’s and YA literature.

The image is of the wonderful Demet Divaroren, Winner of the Premier’s Literary Award for 2018 (and Booked Out Speaker!)

Booked Out would like to extend a huge congratulations to our speaker Morris Gleitzman, who has just been announced as the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2018-2019!

The Australian Children’s Laureate promotes the importance of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians. Previous Laureates include Alison Lester, Boori Monty Pryor, and fellow Booked Out speaker Jackie French.

For over 30 years Morris Gleitzman’s books have dominated the shelves of children and young adults all over Australia and the world. His titles include Two Weeks With the Queen, Boy Overboard, Toad Rage, and the acclaimed ‘Felix’ series beginning with Once.

Congratulations, Morris – we can’t imagine a better ambassador for Australian children’s literature, and we wish you every success in this new role.

And no, we are not Back in Black, we are back in full technicolour, brimming with energy and pizazz ready to take off in 2018!

So don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to get your speaker requirements for your school, library or special event sorted. We work with a brilliant range of interesting people, so just touch base with us for our latest recommendations.

Here’s to a happy 2018.

Every year, Booked Out takes a wee bit of time to get some R+R and, being Summer Time, that time is NOW.

We are away from the office for THREE WHOLE WEEKS! Don’t be jealous, we need it.

We’ll be back, well slept and ready to kick off with 2018 from Monday 15th January.

In the meantime, please do have a good look at our website – unlike us mere humans, the website runs 24/7.

You can also email us at bookings@bookedout.com.au and we will get back to you when we can.

Adios for now, and we’ll catchya in 2018.

Corinne Fenton‘s charming children’s picture book, One Christmas Eve, will be on display again!

For the Christmas season of 2017, One Christmas Eve will take pride of place in the Myer windows in Ballarat after its very popular run in the Melbourne Myer windows in 2016.

Corrine was delighted to meet her readers young and old last Saturday, where she signed and chatted about One Christmas Eve, which follows a young girl and her Grandpa in 1968, who explore Luna Park on Christmas Eve.

Marjorie Crosby-Fairall’s gorgeous illustrations are brought to life in diorama, capturing that special Christmas feeling, with the twinkling lights of Luna Park, the luscious colours of the carousel, and the velvety brilliance of a Christmas Eve Night sky.

The Ballarat windows are on display each morning from 7.30AM, and bring Corinne’s heartwarming story to the public eye once again.

Make sure to come on down if you missed it last year!

Congratulations are in order for two of our wonderful speakers, who have taken out this award in their respective categories: Cath Crowley, author of Words in Deep Blue, and Wendy Orr, author of Dragonfly Song.

Well done, Cath and Wendy – your books will no doubt be cherished by kids and teenagers for years to come.