MYTHS, MAGIC, FANTASY & TIME TRAVEL

Name: MYTHS, MAGIC, FANTASY & TIME TRAVEL
Start: 2024-10-24T00:00:00+12:00
End: 2024-10-25T23:59:59+12:00
Location: TE NONINGA KUMU – MOTUEKA PUBLIC LIBRARY

Lauren Keenan, Rachael King + Claire Mabey

Family Friendly Writers + Kōrero

Our 2024 Schools Programme features three stellar storytellers – Lauren Keenan, Rachael King, and Claire Mabey – who share their spellbinding tales (think ‘writers are rock stars’ vibe) and support tamariki to create their own.

In this special event for 10-to-14-year-olds, Lauren Keenan, Rachael King and Claire Mabey will collectively discuss the inspiration for, and read from, their new books, before leading three parallel writing workshops. (In advance, students will be asked to nominate, in which one of the three workshops they would like to participate*.)

Lauren Keenan is the author of Rimu: Tree of Time, the sequel to Amorangi and Millie’s Trip Though Time, a time travel adventure series. Before they set off on their next time travel adventure, Amorangi pulls a piece of bark from a nearby rimu tree and pockets it to ensure they return, but things do not go to plan. Lauren will lead a workshop where tamiriki can learn how to develop characters to take them on their own time travel adventure.

Rachael King is the author The Grimmelings. She will discuss how her passion for Scottish folklore and horses resulted in a story about the mythical Kelpie, which appears as a black horse-like creature when it emerges from the lake. Rachael will lead a workshop in which tamariki can co-create their own mythical creature.

Claire Mabey is the author of The Raven’s Eye Runaways, the story of three friends and a one-eyed raven who find themselves up against the rulers who restrict the gifts of writing and reading to an elite few. They must go on a wild and unpredictable rescue mission. Claire will lead a worldbuilding workshop in which tamariki can co-create their parallel universe.

* The three workshops are:
A) Time Travel with Lauren Keenan
B) Create You Own Mythical Creature with Rachael King
C) Worldbuilding with Claire Mabey

Lauren Keenan (she/her)

Lauren Keenan (Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki) is a writer of creative non-fiction, novels, short stories and popular psychology. Lauren was a winner at the2017 Pikihuia Awards for Māori writers and a finalist in the 2019 awards. She was also a participant in Te Papa Tupu mentoring programme. Her short stories have appeared in Huia Short Stories collections in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and in 2020 her book The 52 Week Project was published. Lauren has a Master of Arts in History.

Rachael King (she/her)

Rachael King is a writer, reviewer, former literary festival director and ex-bass player living in Ōtautahi Christchurch. She’s the author of two novels for children: Red Rocks, which won the Esther Glen Medal, and The Grimmelings, published in 2024. Her adult novels, The Sound of Butterflies and Magpie Hall, were published in nine languages altogether. Red Rocks is currently in production for Sky TV by Libertine Pictures.

Claire Mabey (she/her)

Claire Mabey is the founder of Verb Wellington, LitCrawl Wellington and Lōemis. She is also a books editor, book critic and co-curator of the writers’ programme at Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts. She lives in Wellington with her partner and their five-year-old.