Patrick Guest
After many years spent gathering stories and tapping away in darkened rooms, Patrick has overcome his fear of public speaking and is now an accomplished performer – equal parts inspiring and entertaining – who isn’t afraid to explore the deeper motivations behind his stories. Patrick has a talent for engaging and involving his whole audience (even the kid at the back of the hall who doesn’t want to be there).
Meet the Speaker
Where were you born?
Melbourne.
What other jobs have you had?
Elephant washer, Cobbler, Accountant (the world’s worst), Anatomy demonstrator at Monash Uni and Physiotherapist (2 x Olympics).
What themes are recurring in your work?
- Courage and kindness
- Turning lemons into lemonade
- Gathering rosebuds while we may
- The joys of being a kid
What have been the highlights of your career?
- Sitting in a darkened room, tapping away into the night, with a fresh idea in full flow.
- Having my first book (a love letter to my disabled son, Noah) published.
- Having six books commissioned in three years with Little Hare/Hardie Grant Egmont.
- Discovering a love for visiting schools and speaking before large audiences.
- Receiving beautiful letters from kids across Australia.
- Being translated internationally.
- Working with world class illustrators.
- Having The Second Sky in more than 47,000 homes as part of the Victorian Government’s Preppie Book Bag initiative.
- The ‘Hero’s Journey’ project – a speaking tour of secondary schools sponsored by Donate Life and drawing from my book Rabby the Brave.
- Twice shortlisted for the CBCA Early Childhood Book of the year – The Second Sky (2018) and The Dress Up Box (2019).
Haven't I seen you before?
My friends call me ‘Forest Gump’ for my ability to pop up at the most unlikely events. For eg: Marching in the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics (with Team Mozambique) and representing Australia at the World Toe Wrestling Championships.
Anything else you'd like to share with us?
I have 3 kids, 7 siblings and a pug named Zorko ...and I’m terrified of possums!
Speaker Type
Audience
Locations
Sessions
The Making of the Second Sky - Workshop
A writing workshop which follows the creation of of Patrick’s CBCA shortlisted book The Making of the Second Sky.This session...
The Second Sky - early primary
An interactive, heartfelt reading of Patrick’s CBCA shortlisted book The Second Sky which is about big dreams and holding...
The Ricker Racker Extravaganza
A fun, raucous interactive reading of The Ricker Racker ClubThe session opens with a question: Who here is in a club?The...
That’s What Wings Are For
An interactive, heartfelt reading of Patrick’s bestselling first book That's what Wings are for - which was inspired by...
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