P.A. O’Reilly’s The Fine Colour of Rust has just been featured as Book Of The Week on iTunes Australia. Intriguing that a literary work about a rural town is available to bridge the tyranny of distance by being available for purchase and download over iTunes — avoiding the increasing cost of shipping. Check it out here.

Booked Out works very hard to help support, develop and implement residency programs for schools across Australia — and regional schools are among those we are proudest to be able to develop suitable programs with. You may have seen a previous post about John Danalis’ work in Moulamein, for which he traveled all the way from Brisbane. It was a special booking for John, as the schools are in the area of the Wamba Wamba people who he connected with whilst he was on the journey to repatriate ‘Mary’, as told in Riding The Black Cockatoo. Here is a first hand account from the school Principal who organised it with us, Catherine Peach.

I cannot believe how fortunate we been with the calibre of author/illustrators that you have helped us to have visit our schools. As I set about planning and programming units for 2011 and 2012, and matched authors/illustrators with what I wanted from the learning based on what I know of them and your recommendations, I could not have dreamt just how rich the experiences would be for our students, teachers, and for me.

Thank you for the recommendation to include John Danalis. He was truly amazing. From the moment I read about him, his work and story and heard him speak in an interview podcast and spoke to him on the telephone, I could see how he would fit with our program. He has been an absolute delight and has delivered on my expectations, the program’s outcomes and more.

His storytelling and personal stories enthralled and inspired our students and teachers, and he reached each and every student with his warmth, humour and compassion. He generously worked with the outcomes of our program in mind and delivered powerful messages about resilience, courage, relationships, and the concepts of connection to family, place and culture.

He has been amazing and his presentation and workshops have been enthusiastically embraced by our students and teachers. He has left us with a wealth of material and understandings that will be explored by students and teachers alike in the time ahead. We could not be more pleased with his contribution to our students’ learning and the manner in which he engaged us all in the process.

I am always conscious that two weeks away from home and loved ones is a big ask for anyone and try to make sure our visitors feel welcome and content during their time with us. John was a delight to host and his genuine manner and true appreciation for our area and schools was such a pleasure.

Thank you again Simon for recommending John. I am so pleased with the presentation and workshops John delivered, the warm and respectful relationship in learning he fostered and the way he became part of our program. We have indeed been privileged to have worked with John and to have had him in our rural schools.

We have expressed our sincere thanks to John and how much we appreciated his time with us and what he has contributed. Thank you Simon for helping it all happen.

—C. Peach, Moulamein Public School

Booked Out is very happy to have a long working relationship with Moulamein Public School, who have hosted a great range of our creatives over past years, sharing a visiting speaker with a number of schools in the area. They’ve run residencies with Lee Fox, Anne Spudvilas, Jan Wositzky, Narelle Oliver, Kevin Burgemeestre (see some photos of Kevin’s visit here; and right now have John Danalis working with them.

John can always be trusted to take his trusty folding bike along for a bit of extra exploration and is known to send a photo or two back to the office — what a big sky! Visiting the region has been very exciting for John as the Wamba Wamba people from the area form a large part of his own story (as told in his Riding The Black Cockatoo).

Wakool Burraboi Public School is one school to have already have worked with John this week. They sent us a copy of their newsletter:

This week we were thrilled to have author/illustrator John Danalis visit our school as part of our ‘My World Your World’ learning and teaching theme. John shared his own story that was closely linked to our region and the Wamba Wamba people around Swan Hill. John passed on stories filled with messages about respect and appreciation of culture which encourages self reflection and consideration of self, community and established perceptions. John gave each student an autographed picture card from his beautiful picture book. Each card featured a personalised cartoon. He also generously donated copies of his books to our school. If you would like to visit our room and share them please drop in. Alternatively they will be available for students to borrow from the library in Term 2. Thank you to Bruce and Lynette for coming in and chatting to John and sharing the wonderful drawings the children were creating to tell their own personal stories.

I think the following quotes from students and teachers reflect how much our school gained from John’s visit.

John was better than an excursion

–N. Mathers

It was a privilege to listen to John, he is an amazing story teller and a very talented man.

–J. Heywood.

He wanted to have his lunch with us instead of sitting with the teachers, that showed he cared about us

–B. Jukes

Later this year Moulamein will also host David Miller and Mark Wilson.

When did it become March already! And not just March, but almost halfway through March?? The year is rapidly flicking before my very eyes.

Just because christmas is over (sad I know) doesn’t mean that the early part of the year doesn’t have cause for celebration. Here are some excuses to celebrate.

1. Labour day. Aren’t you glad you live in Victoria?
2. International Women’s Day. That was yesterday, but many are still hosting events to celebrate.
3. Harmony Day.

I’m sure there are others. I for example am celebrating an upcoming trip OS and also the lack of boiling hot days this summer. But if you’re reading this from a school or a library then you’re possibly more interested in celebrating Harmony Day than my travels. Harmony Day (on the 21st of March this year) is the day when all Australians celebrate cultural diversity. We should do that every day, but it’s nice to have a reminder.

With the rapid passing of the year, you may have forgotten to organise a celebration at your school, but we’ve got plenty of speakers who can offer inspiring presentations on cultural diversity and inclusion any time in the week beginning the 19th of March. It’s a great chance to start discussions about cultural awareness, and ties in nicely to the Australian Curriculum (understanding our own heritage and our relationships with overseas neighbours). You might have heard of some of our speakers (namely Alice Pung and Najaf Mazari) whose texts appear on the VCE curriculum, but the following you may not know and Harmony Day (or shall we just call it Harmony Week?) would be a good chance to change that.

1. Maria Tumarkin
2. Neil Grant
3. Hanifa Deen
4. Amra Pajalic
5. Meme McDonald
6. Michael McGirr

You can read more on Harmony Day here or follow the links to find out more on any of the speakers mentioned. And until I get on a plane at least, I and the other lovely Booked Outers are here to answer questions or make a booking for you.

In the week of August 13-17 2012, illustrator and author John Danaliswill be coming through your town!

John will be on a road trip from Toowoomba down to Tenterfield (and a few side tracks along the way). Whether you are in Toowoomba, Warwick, Stanthorpe, Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Inverell or Texas we can get John to you.

We are sending John on a roadtrip, for the National Year of Reading. John is an ideal speaker to promote reading and creativity among your students. He is a versatile creator as well as a strong role model and teacher. Children (and adults) of all ages gain something from hearing John speak.

It doesn’t take much to make me laugh, and once I’ve started it’s pretty hard to make me stop. Friends imitate my range of laughs from the silent ‘you wouldn’t realise she was laughing except for the shaking shoulders and crying’ to the louder three syllable ‘ha, ha, ha’ which became a high school classic, and finally the ‘teeheehee’ which means that something I’ve seen is cute and funny all at once.

So I love that special time every year when I get to showcase my range of laughter in a variety of bars and venues across Melbourne. That’s right folks, it’s nearly time for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival!

Quite possibly my favourite time of year and a chance to get those giggles out before I have to calm down and get my sensible self on for the remainder of the year.

Most of you would know that we have some hilarious speakers on our books and some of them are actually comedians.

Sammy J and Randy delight us every year with their madcap adventures. Last year it was a bin-rage stake out and I’m pretty excited to see what it will be this year. (It’s called The Inheritance and you can get tickets here ) AND because they’re so fabulous, they’ve been awarded the huge honour of hosting the Gala! I’ll be glued to the telly.

Kate McLennan of Livin’ the Dream fame is going it solo this year with her show ‘Homeward Bound’ while the other half of the act is pairing up with another in the show ‘Plus One’

Also, before they head off for a stint overseas, the Anyone for Tennis lads will be delighting audiences with their new show ‘Comedy. Music. etc.’

Obviously a lot of these shows are going to be more MA15+ than the usual school fare doled out by our beloved entertainers. But hey, it’s good for the adults to get out once in a while as well.

-Bec Kavanagh

Cath Crowley will be conducting a live chat for The Reading Room next Wednesday, 29th February, at 11am Eastern Standard Time.

Cath invites people to log in to be able to ask her about … well anything that they want to know!

We’re guessing people will be familiar with Cath’s blog might be tempted to ask about her use of poetry, or her recent US book launch (Graffiti Moon came out in the US on Valentine’s Day).

You’ll need to create a (free) account on The Reading Room and then use this link to get to the session.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, a day when lovers everywhere stare longingly into each other’s eyes over shared bowls of spaghetti. Or so I hear. My lonely boyfriend will be working late as I head to my evening writing class which is hosted by the very skillful Sally Rippin. The love of words is rife in this one.

But when every other Valentine’s Day is celebrated between couples falling in love – a day which often excludes the singles, the recently single, the too young to care, the too careless to care – 2012 offers a refreshing alternative that everyone can celebrate. Tomorrow is the 14th of February, and more importantly, the launch of the National Year of Reading. “But every year should be about reading!” I hear you say. And so it should be. But this year we’re celebrating it properly, with posters and banners and books aplenty. If you want to know more about NYOR head here.

And it seems that authors are celebrating too – because they’re certainly giving us some gold to read. I’ve just finished Doug MacLeod’s new book The Shiny Guys – a surreal, entertaining and thoughtful novel about mental illness and strange friendships and I loved it. So I opened the pages of Gabrielle Williams’ much anticipated new novel The Reluctant Hallelujah and already I’m loving that too. It bodes well for a year which is all about reading, that there is so much quality just waiting to be read. I for one, am hoping to read it all.

• Bec Kavanagh, Booked Out

Browse a list of speakers who work with Booked Out, and have a role as Ambassador for the 2012 National Year of Reading here. These speakers may have limited availability — but contact us to find out if they can help with your Year of Reading event.

On the weekend I opened a note from a friend that contained the list of resolutions which we’d written for 2010 and hidden in a book. To my surprise (and relief) I had actually managed to achieve most of the resolutions. The rest I no longer cared about, which was quite a nice feeling too. I like to make resolutions because it feels as though the new year might have something to offer that the old one didn’t, that things could be better, that I could achieve more, that the slate might be wiped clean so that I could start over. There are, of course, those resolutions that seem to happen every year, and are shared by most of us, and on of the most common is to be healthier, to exercise more and to eat well.

Aside from being wonderful speakers in the flesh, a lot of our wellbeing speakers have blogs of books that can be a great motivation to get moving on this resolution and start living well.

Lola Berry – www.lolaberry.com With recipes and ideas for healthier eating and a gleeful attitude to exercise and health, this is a great first stop, especially in the warmer summer months.

Lauren Burns Lauren’s book Food From a Loving Home has delicious vegetarian recipes by Lauren (who is an ex-olympian and nutritionist) as well as amazing cakes that you can take for afternoon tea if your resolution is to spend more time with loved ones and also natural, homemade remedies for skin and to ward off illness as you get back into work.

Arabella Forge – www.frugavore.com If you want to just live better and eat better, being a frugavore (or at least taking notes from one as passionate as Arabella) is a must. And with farmer’s markets popping up everywhere, there’s no nicer way to spend a Saturday morning than shopping for and eating fresh-from-the-ground food.

-Bec Kavanagh