poem composed on the train yesterday, using visual stimuli (julie beveridge's suggestion), and then drafted and rewritten at the airport. at gate 46.
poem composed after attendance at a city workshop, not instead of networking you will note, comrade harps! :)
fabulous to catch up with corinne hills who i haven't seen since we shared a dorm at CSU res. school back in '03. she influenced my decision to move to townsville - something i wrote about for InCite. best wishes for your Masters, corinne!
met great librarians from ipswich (home of the infocoach), nerang (check background image on my twitter), gold coast, federal court, drug arm, etc.
19 November, 2009
17 November, 2009
julie beveridge rocks townsville!
*****
my first full creative day in ages - saturday in townsville with julie beveridge for a poetry workshop - five star day.
julie is director of queensland poetry festival, marketing coordinator at queensland writers centre and author of Rock'n'Roll Tuxedo and Home is Where the Heartache is (two poetry chapbooks, the latter of haibun).
and 'specially nice to be with a group of other writers for the day too
and we did an open mic. which i've done before in the gallery at HB, but my first time here.
and then i got a long email from glenys who is writing a novel - fully into the creative phase of character and scene development - and who owes me some pages!
i have to update some details on wordbox on the weekend - check it out next week.
my first full creative day in ages - saturday in townsville with julie beveridge for a poetry workshop - five star day.
julie is director of queensland poetry festival, marketing coordinator at queensland writers centre and author of Rock'n'Roll Tuxedo and Home is Where the Heartache is (two poetry chapbooks, the latter of haibun).
and 'specially nice to be with a group of other writers for the day too
and we did an open mic. which i've done before in the gallery at HB, but my first time here.
and then i got a long email from glenys who is writing a novel - fully into the creative phase of character and scene development - and who owes me some pages!
i have to update some details on wordbox on the weekend - check it out next week.
You will write a haiku by the end of the month
13 November, 2009
top writer blogs no. 122!
some days are diamond. the-storyspace is a runner up at no. 122 on Jonathan Crossfield's The Top 50 Australian Blogs for Writers.
http://www.jonathancrossfield.com/blog/top-50-aussie-writer-blogs
Angela Mayer and Justine Larbalestier's blogs came out on top, but the-storyspace is in there amongst some amazing Australian writers: Kirsty Murray, Catherine Bateson and Julia Lawrinson. Our first blog award! *Just a bit excited here*
I will have to invest a little more time here at the-storyspace so it can rise in the ranks. More reviews, guest bloggers, etc. Reaching out to young readers and those who work with them.
Thanks Jonathan !
http://www.jonathancrossfield.com/blog/top-50-aussie-writer-blogs
Angela Mayer and Justine Larbalestier's blogs came out on top, but the-storyspace is in there amongst some amazing Australian writers: Kirsty Murray, Catherine Bateson and Julia Lawrinson. Our first blog award! *Just a bit excited here*
I will have to invest a little more time here at the-storyspace so it can rise in the ranks. More reviews, guest bloggers, etc. Reaching out to young readers and those who work with them.
Thanks Jonathan !
08 November, 2009
what does 'reading' really mean?
Interesting discussion over at OZ_TL regarding visual literacy, techno-literacy, reading books vs. reading text on screens.
to READ –verb (used with object)
1.
to look at carefully so as to understand the meaning of (something written, printed, etc.): to read a book; to read music.
read. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 08, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/read
The discussion began with an observation that 'skills for reading from print (on paper) are different to those for reading from a screen and we need to teach both. Research is telling us that kids need really good traditional literacy skills before they can read well from a screen' (Barbara Combes, Edith Cowan University, Perth).
Then a young teacher from outside Australia responded with a bit of a dismissal that prompted many learned teachers to respond.
He suggested that his generation had no problems reading and interpreting text from a screen - he has several screens open on his desktop, and he constantly flicks between them. He said that he doesn't read everything on the page, but that's what his generation is about. I'd say already he has a problem understanding what the act of reading means. To read means to look at something printed, displayed, etc in our language system carefully so as to form an understanding of its meaning. If the writer didn't want the reader to read so much he or she would have uploaded less words. Each word counts towards the reader's comprehension of the writer's intent, or to the formation of the reader's own interpretation. If you view less than the whole you cannot gain full understanding.
Many teachers responded to his argument using sound pedagogical examples, including that TLs need to invest a lot of time into teaching techno-literacy because so many students believe everything they view online. That is, they view it and accept it instead of reading and applying judgement. If a website or other online medium has not been created according to W3C standards, then the viewer already has a barrier to comprehension if he or she is flicking between screens because they won't readily see the important information.
So I responded from a writer's viewpoint, and yes, a few teachers responded to my response with cheers. I like technology applications rather a lot, but I would never suggest that the container is more important than the content.
My response: The thing is, if 'your' generation is about not reading everything on the page, you are going to miss out on some incredibly creative use of language - which is the difference between stories/poetry and a business report. If you skim you may get the gist of a story, but not its nuances and subtle pleasures. And if you are a teacher and endeavouring to teach children how to write creatively - there's a problem. Similarly, by skimming readers may miss important textual clues which would aid comprehension and support their development of further knowledge (as in the fake websites examples). Certainly students need to be educated to be capable of one day understanding business reports, as important decisions are made on the strength of them. You can use all the tools to create a digital story, present it with visuals, use stop animation, tell all your mates about it on Facebook or twitter, but the actual story should have substance. I don't believe all stories/poems have to be in book form. The story matters to me - whether that's projected on the side of a building, written in chalk on the footpath or downloaded on a kindle. The technology needs to be used effectively to support the content. I wouldn't say 'I'm going to write a story for a mobile phone screen'. I'd think about the story I wanted to write, then consider the best medium for presentation. And as the technology container affects how/where the content is communicated, then TLs are well placed to educate students in understanding this.
to READ –verb (used with object)
1.
to look at carefully so as to understand the meaning of (something written, printed, etc.): to read a book; to read music.
read. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 08, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/read
The discussion began with an observation that 'skills for reading from print (on paper) are different to those for reading from a screen and we need to teach both. Research is telling us that kids need really good traditional literacy skills before they can read well from a screen' (Barbara Combes, Edith Cowan University, Perth).
Then a young teacher from outside Australia responded with a bit of a dismissal that prompted many learned teachers to respond.
He suggested that his generation had no problems reading and interpreting text from a screen - he has several screens open on his desktop, and he constantly flicks between them. He said that he doesn't read everything on the page, but that's what his generation is about. I'd say already he has a problem understanding what the act of reading means. To read means to look at something printed, displayed, etc in our language system carefully so as to form an understanding of its meaning. If the writer didn't want the reader to read so much he or she would have uploaded less words. Each word counts towards the reader's comprehension of the writer's intent, or to the formation of the reader's own interpretation. If you view less than the whole you cannot gain full understanding.
Many teachers responded to his argument using sound pedagogical examples, including that TLs need to invest a lot of time into teaching techno-literacy because so many students believe everything they view online. That is, they view it and accept it instead of reading and applying judgement. If a website or other online medium has not been created according to W3C standards, then the viewer already has a barrier to comprehension if he or she is flicking between screens because they won't readily see the important information.
So I responded from a writer's viewpoint, and yes, a few teachers responded to my response with cheers. I like technology applications rather a lot, but I would never suggest that the container is more important than the content.
My response: The thing is, if 'your' generation is about not reading everything on the page, you are going to miss out on some incredibly creative use of language - which is the difference between stories/poetry and a business report. If you skim you may get the gist of a story, but not its nuances and subtle pleasures. And if you are a teacher and endeavouring to teach children how to write creatively - there's a problem. Similarly, by skimming readers may miss important textual clues which would aid comprehension and support their development of further knowledge (as in the fake websites examples). Certainly students need to be educated to be capable of one day understanding business reports, as important decisions are made on the strength of them. You can use all the tools to create a digital story, present it with visuals, use stop animation, tell all your mates about it on Facebook or twitter, but the actual story should have substance. I don't believe all stories/poems have to be in book form. The story matters to me - whether that's projected on the side of a building, written in chalk on the footpath or downloaded on a kindle. The technology needs to be used effectively to support the content. I wouldn't say 'I'm going to write a story for a mobile phone screen'. I'd think about the story I wanted to write, then consider the best medium for presentation. And as the technology container affects how/where the content is communicated, then TLs are well placed to educate students in understanding this.
01 November, 2009
pendragon shoes
these shoes absolutely surpass any other shoe i have ever seen - wearable wordart. delightful!
Cello and Ancient Mariner with their ancient script detail, and Pendragon Shoes' workshop is in Maroochydore! Want.
Cello and Ancient Mariner with their ancient script detail, and Pendragon Shoes' workshop is in Maroochydore! Want.
coffee dominion beats us to it
page 36 townsville bulletin, saturday october 31, 2009
'baristas on call as text service grinds down coffee wait time' by Ryan Matheson.
Manager Jia Brooks said that 'we're always looking to find a better way to deliver our customers coffee on time'.
Over at the library, we're always looking for better ways to deliver information and resources to our customers on time - I'm going to bring this up at our customer services meeting tomorrow morning.
'baristas on call as text service grinds down coffee wait time' by Ryan Matheson.
Manager Jia Brooks said that 'we're always looking to find a better way to deliver our customers coffee on time'.
Over at the library, we're always looking for better ways to deliver information and resources to our customers on time - I'm going to bring this up at our customer services meeting tomorrow morning.
31 October, 2009
balconies lit & redbacks escape - emma's haiga
A beautiful poetry site discovered tonight : Australian Haiku by Emma Dalloway via the equally fascinating seasoncreep.
And to bookmark other notable poets - Kilmeny Niland's haiga and janice m. bostok.
And to bookmark other notable poets - Kilmeny Niland's haiga and janice m. bostok.
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