English Department News
Highly Esteemed Author Visits Girton
Our year 12 Mainstream English students have commenced study on a text which is new to our curriculum in 2019. The Year 12 teaching team were delighted to select short story anthology, ‘Like a House on Fire’, from the list provided by the VCAA as not only does it contain stories of incredible interest and merit but it is written by an Australian, a woman and a local!
Author Cate Kennedy’s biography is as impressive as her writing and it was with great joy that we welcomed her to Girton Grammar to address our Year 12 students on Thursday March 14th.
Our students are expected to respond to the text with their own creative writing and Cate offered them a raft of advice and suggestions as to how they might fulfil this task. Her obvious enthusiasm for her craft and delight in the written word was quickly conveyed to our students, with many staying after the presentation to have their copies of the anthology signed, to talk about their own writing or to ask questions.
It seems appropriate to allow our students to have the final word about the presentation which was created for them:
“It was very interesting learning about the inspiration and backstories of the stories we have studied in class.”
"Cate’s presentation was extremely informative, not only on her anthology but also on the methods of writing a successful short story. Her advice relating to “keep[ing] it simple” and using elements of our lives that “everyone can relate to” will be of great use to me in completing the SAC."
“Cate was a great speaker”
“Cate gave me a whole new insight into how I could write.”
“I found the session both extremely helpful and enjoyable. It was great to gain an understanding about how an author grasps the reader’s attention.”
“I really liked it when Cate told us about using ‘sensory detail’ and to describe the actions of characters in order to convey underlying meanings.”
“I’m going to try to include Cate’s concept of writing about something ‘small and specific’ to capture a moment in my own writing.”
Cate’s presentation made the unease I have been feeling about our forthcoming Creative Response SAC slip away. Now I have more confidence about how to write.”
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