ENGLISH

MAXINE BENEBA CLARKE WRITING WORKSHOP

On Monday 25 March, thirteen students in Years 9 -11 (all winners of Writer of the Month in 2018), and Ms Pentland, had the privilege of attending a workshop with multi-award winning poet and author, Maxine Beneba Clarke. This was an extension and enrichment excursion to enhance our writing skills.

The workshop was held at the fascinating Immigration Museum in the city.

To begin Beneba Clarke took us into an exhibition showcasing the journeys of many groups who have migrated to Australia. The exhibition also featured cultural artefacts representing the different phases of Australia’s immigration policy - including the White Australia Policy.

After viewing the exhibition, we returned to the writing workshop space and eagerly took out our pens and paper. Under the skilful guidance of Maxine, we were ready to write! Maxine gave us many helpful hints and strategies to improve our language usage and to write short stories in a limited amount of time (such as under exam conditions). We each wrote a piece about a turning point in our family using the techniques that Maxine taught us. We then shared, and further workshopped, our writing with the group. It was obvious to us all that some excellent writing was underway.

This was a fantastic opportunity for McKinnon students. Erisha Tayal, of Year 11 wrote of the experience:

I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity. Not only was Maxine fantastic, but the exhibition we got to see at the start was set up brilliantly and really added to the experience of the workshop. I found Maxine's expansion method of writing incredibly helpful and could easily tell what a wonderful storyteller she was just by how she saw impactful stories in things that weren't apparent at face value. I think this experience is something that has, and will, continue to inspire many young writers at McKinnon.

Stephanie Georgantas & Mathilda Groud

Year 9E Students