Schools and parents can now apply to bring their classes to the festival.  The first round of bookings will close 26 June. Our team will then look at all the applications and allocate spaces fairly. Schools will be notified by 9 August. Applications received after 26 June will be allocated spaces where available. Preferential bookings will be given to schools who are part of the Ipswich District Teacher-Librarian Network.

Bookings are now open for the adult program StoryArts Brisbane, being held at the State Library of Qld.  There is an exciting program running 19-20 October.

The two day conference for writers, illustrators, teachers and librarians promotes excellence in children’s literature. Previously, the festival has been held in conjunction with the StoryArts Festival Ipswich. This year, the festival has been moved to the more central location of Brisbane.

Primary and Middle Years teachers will gain an insight into the stories behind some of our best book creators with ties to how literature supports aspects of the Australian Curriculum.

The festival aims to offer quality, affordable workshops and master classes and the opportunity to obtain feedback on pitches, manuscripts and portfolios. There will be key panel sessions with editors, agents, authors and illustrators and focused sessions with book creators.

Presenters are the book creators Mark Greenwood, Frané Lessac, Heath McKenzie, Sarah Davis and Lisa Shanahan, and  agents Alex Adsett and Justine Barker and the publishers  Clair Hume (Affirm Press), Susannah Chambers (Allen & Unwin), Emily Lighezzolo (Wombat Books and Rhiza Edge), Rowena Beresford (Yellow Brick Books). 

Find out more about the presenters.

The school’s program is now confirmed with a range of awards winning book creators both local and interstate. Who will you meet this year? 

Michael Gerard Bauer – multi-award winning author, most recently Notable Book CBCA 2019, CBCA Winner Book of the Year 2018 Early Childhood, Winner Speech Pathology of Australia Book of the Year for Years 3 – 5.
Samantha Wheeler – Notable Book CBCA 2019
Sheryl Gwyther –Notable Book CBCA 2019 and Qld representative for SCBWI
Peter Carnavas – Winner Qld Literary Awards 2018, CBCA shortlist 2018
Gregg Dreise – Indigenous author, illustrator and musician published with Penguin and Magabala Books
Emma Middleton – emerging author and illustrator published with Affirm Press
Dimity Powell – emerging author published with EK Books, winner of the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award 2019
Giuseppe Poli – emerging author and illustrator published with EK Books and New Frontier
Cherri Ryan – emerging author published with Black Dog Books/Walker Books
Megan Daley – Published April 2019 Raising Readers with UQP
Mark Greenwood – WA, Notable Book CBCA 2019, shortlisted WA Premier’s Book Awards 2019
Frane Lessac – WA, Notable Book CBCA 2019
Felice Arena – NSW,  Notable Book CBCA 2019
Lisa Shanahan – Vic, has won major awards including the Qld Literary Award 2017, Speech Pathology Book of the Year and CBCA Book of the Year awards
Mark Wilson – Vic, winner of Dromkeen Medal 2011, shortlisted and notable many times in CBCA Book of the Year Awards and winner of the Whiteley Award for Children’s Literature
Sarah Davis – Vic, has been recognised in CBCA Book of the Year awards, Aurealis awards, shortlisted for the NZ Children’s Book of the Year Award, won numerous children’s choice awards 
Jaqueline Harvey – NSW, was shortlisted for an Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) in 2015, Honour Book in the 2006 CBCA Book of the Year Awards.
Jules Faber – NSW, is both an award-winning children’s book illustrator and award-winning cartoonist. With author Anh Do he won the 2014 Book of the Year for Older Children at the Australian Book Industry Awards with ‘Weirdo’.
George Ivanoff – Vic, won the 2015 YABBA in the ‘Fiction for Younger Readers’ category; and got an Honour Award in the KOALAs in 2016 and 2017.
Heath McKenzie – Vic, Heath McKenzie is a popular and prolific illustrator and illustrated the popular ‘Do not open this book’ by Andy Lee which has won YABBA and BILBY Awards.
Valanga Khoza – Vic, is originally from South Africa. He is an amazing musician storyteller who wrote Gezani and the Tricky Baboon illustrated by Sally Rippin.

After a few years absence, StoryArts Festival Ipswich is returning to Woodlands of Marburg.  This means more schools from the country areas will be able to attend this year. We are looking forward to once again enjoying the ambience of this magical place. Once more the buses will roll in to unload the excited children as they meet the book creators, buy books, have lunch in the grounds and learn a little about their local history.