CATE KENNEDY &

ALICE PUNG VISITS

On Wednesday, 13 February, Alice Pung the editor of the book, that we are presently reading  ‘Growing up Asian in Australia’ came to Footscray City College to talk to our Year 11 EAL class. Alice talked about the process of publishing the book and how she felt connected to each of the individual stories. She talked about her own story and how her parents were able to come to Australia. We got know about her and her parent’s journey, as they faced various challenges and struggles and how they overcame them with determination. She also explained how she was treated during her childhood and how she was called a ‘power point’. She didn’t understand what it meant until one of her friends told her that she was called a ‘power point’ because of her face. Many other series of events like this motivated her to collect various unique stories to show us not only what it is like to grow up Asian in Australia, but also what it means to be Asian Australian. And this was exactly the sort of book that she wanted to read when she was growing up.

She talked about her mum who was illiterate and there was no community she could interact with. She would work day and night in the garage on jewellery and selling it without paying tax. Eventually, she thought that the government would take them back to their country. Studying to become a lawyer later in life, Alice found out that her mum was being exploited and her fears were groundless.

Alice Pung's visit gave us an opportunity to ask some wonderful questions and to learn some of her views and experiences of certain issues that we, ourselves deal with growing up in Australia.

Natasa Ciabatti - Head of LOTE

EAL and Creative Writing students recently benefited from a visit from Cate Kennedy, the author of the short story collection “Like a House on Fire”. Cate spoke about her stories and writing process. Students were able to ask and receive information about the collection which only the author could provide. Cate Kennedy was able to clearly discuss how she approaches writing and some of her inspiration for creating short stories. She examined her own work while encouraging and providing tangible techniques for students to develop their own creative writing. 

Nicole De Garis - Head of EAL