English Matters

Boori Monty Pryor and Philip Wilcox visit Blackfriars

The laughs and giggles could be heard loud and clear from the Performing Arts Centre last week as the Year 8 students were treated to an hour of entertaining anecdotes from renowned author, musician, sportsman, model, Australian Children's Laureate (2012-2013), and all-round entertaining man Boori Monty Pryor. He regaled the boys with stories of his adventures growing up in Northern Queensland, and gave them some tips and advice on how to craft a humorous anecdote, which will come in handy as they compete for the “King of Comedy” in the “Year 8 Comedy Cup”.

But Boori was not the only renowned artist to visit Blackfriars; a week earlier Australian Slam Poet Champion Philip Wilcox performed for the Year 10 students. Philip recited some of his own work for the boys, enlightening them on where his ideas came from, and his own creative process. The boys then had the privilege of writing a poem with Philip, using lines they made up on the spot (photo below).

Ms Margaret Snelling

English Curriculum Leader

Year 8 Students reflect on Boori Monty Pryor’s visit.

On Tuesday the 13 March the Year 8 cohort had the privilege of having Boori Monty Pryor, an Indigenous author, come to Blackfriars. All of the Year 8s were lost in time as his experiences were so relatable and funny that we felt like we were part of the story.  At the end of the session we were able to ask questions about his stories and particularly the complexity of the language used in My Girragundji, and also about what techniques we could use in our own anecdotes that the Year 8s are currently working on.

Overall I think all the Year 8s thoroughly enjoyed Boori’s presence and his funny, down to earth personality. I’m sure we would all welcome Boori back to Blacks as we had a very memorable time with him.

By Isaiah Lee, Year 8T

Last week we had Boori Monty Pryor who is an Indigenous, Australian author come to our school to talk to us about his books and life stories. It was an enjoyable experience for everyone including the teachers! His stories were both funny and insightful which made the day fun and educational at the same time.

This experience helped us learn how to create a more humorous text by choosing the right topic and how to emphasise our words and language choices. This experience will help our year 8s with the Comedy Cup which will be held in Week 11.

By Hy Buu, Year 8A

Year 10 Students reflect on Philip Wilcox’s visit.

Philip was a funny guy who engaged his audience.  All boys had a few laughs and he made poetry look cool. 

Cooper O’Leary

What a chill guy! Philip’s poetry slamming skills were very impressive and it was great to have someone in that was so relatable. He made poetry cool.

Harry Catley

Best School performance ever. Philip was on fire.

Michael Nong