I’m very excited to announce that it’s now possible to buy e-versions of Lighthouse Girl and Light Horse Boy though the apple store. I’ve attached a link below.
Light Horse Boy is also currently being serialised in the West Australian newspaper each Tuesday as part of the Ed! supplement.
https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/dianne-wolfer/id931550728?mt=11
I was fortunate to attend the 100 year Commemoration of Australia’s first naval victory at the Cocos Islands. There were dignitaries and descendants of both German and Australian sailors. The battle between the Emden and Sydney is featured in my book Light Horse Boy, so this was a special occasion for me to visit the island and find out more. The main commemoration ceremony was marked by the ringing of the new friendship bells on November 9th 2014.
Between events I gave presentations and workshops to students at both Home and West Island campuses of Cocos Islands District High School. The younger children loved Granny Grommet and Me while the older students and I spoke about historical fiction. The students knew so much about their own history and so it was fun to show photos of the ships and Albany events linked to the convoy that passed their islands 100 years ago.
The staff and students of CIDHS were so welcoming, especially English and Library teacher Lee Hegarty, who organised my sessions, hosted me, took me sightseeing in her character-filled car, Roxy and introduced me to her friends and the friendly locals. Cocos is a horseshoe shaped atoll with amazing wildlife. Snorkelling with dolphins in clear turquoise water was wonderful.
The school’s motto ‘Kerja Sama dan Kejayaan’, means cooperation and achievement in Cocos/Malay and you can feel that spirit everywhere in the school. The students gave a respectful re-enactment of the Sydney-Emden battle as part of a Remembrance Day assembly. This was very moving for all who watched, particularly the visiting descendants.
Thank you to the Literature Centre and Coco Islands School for sponsoring this very special visit.
As part of the Anzac Albany Commemorations, Paperbark Merchants hired the Albany Entertainment Centre to hold an In Conversation event with songwriter, Ted Egan and authors; Ross Coulthart, Roland Perry, Peter Fitzsimons and myself. ABC’s Gillian O’Shaughnessy was the facilitator.
We had an almost full-house. A lively discussion covered topics as diverse as animals at war, the legacy of Monash, WW1 battles and then Ted inspired us all with his evocative songs. I enjoyed getting to know these writers who, like me, are drawn to conflict as a theme in their writing. Our books are all very different and yet we had much in common. And, in regards to the photo above, I would like to point out that my165 cm height is the average for Australian women.
Maybe they were standing on something…
The re-enactment of the departure of the troopships was a highlight of the weekend for me. As I stood on Mt Adelaide, I imagined Fay Catherine Howe standing on Breaksea Island one hundred years ago, watching the troopships of the 1st AIF convoy leave Australia. The video below captures some of the atmosphere…
If you look closely at the photo below you can not only see three naval ships, but also the submarine HMAS Rankin and a helicopter following them. Here is a link to a news article about the departure. While the troopships were leaving there was a ceremony to open the new National Anzac centre.
What a weekend! 
There was a buzz in the Albany community as the 100 year Anzac commemoration weekend approached with everyone keeping an eye on the sky. October weather in Albany is ‘unpredictable’ – to put it kindly, but the weather Gods were smiling. By Thursday evening building illuminations were beginning and for me, watching the ‘Lighthouse Girl’ story come alive on the side of St John’s church was a very moving experience. Brian Simmond’s charcoal illustrations and the old photographic images were accompanied by the haunting sound of Simone Keane’s beautiful song, ‘Life’s Ocean’.
Don Watson, the son of ‘lighthouse girl, Fay’ came to Albany on Thursday with his wife Peg and other family members. We walked together at Middleton Beach, saw the 30,000 poppies and were interviewed on Eoin Cameron’s radio breakfast show and Channel 10 news.
Then the formal commemorations began; the troop march and Anzac Service. Between events, pop-up stalls along Stirling Terrace had a range of Anzac related food and craft. On the stage there was music and performances by local school students. There were thousands of people in the streets with roads closed and so much happening, but no problems at all. I’d love to see Stirling Terrace closed for regular market days…
Before the Albany Anzac weekend I was fortunate to watch a sneak preview of the Albany Bethel Christian School’s students’ performance of ‘Lighthouse Girl’. I was so impressed! Weeks of work have gone into writing the play, creating stunning sets and researching finer details of the WW1 era. Accolades to drama teacher, Brenda Ward and her team…
The most wonderful part were the students. Their enthusiasm and acting skills were impressive, and I found it very moving to see and hear my story come to life.
The students performed part of the play on the Stirling Terrace stage during the Albany Anzac weekend and will stage the show in full at their end of year production in December. Congratulations to all involved and thank you for allowing me to watch a preview.
The students and staff at Spencer Park are a creative bunch with every child contributing artwork to an exhibition launched at the Albany Museum this evening by Peter Watson MLA.
Talented local poet Maree Dawes was enjoying the students’ work and I was thrilled to see that ‘Lighthouse Girl’ has inspired some of this year’s art.
Ms Joyce’s students have made fabulous semaphore cushions while Ms Perry’s class used charcoal to create evocative lighthouse images. Here are some samples of their work…
And then on the way home, we glimpsed a preview of tomorrow evening’s projections on the side of St John’s church and the Town Hall. An exciting few days ahead…
Albany shop windows have been decorated by owners and schoolchildren to celebrate the 100 year Commemoration of the sailing of the 1st AIF and to honour the men and women who sailed from King George Sound. There displays are evocative with fabulous old artefacts like the sheet music of WW1 songs in the Classical Music shop and a vintage typewriter (which I’m coveting) in the Amcal chemist. Local students have also written stories and created artworks to display. For anyone who is here in town for the event an early ‘before breakfast’ stroll is a great time to see them.
With so many things happening over the next few days I’ll be doing regular posts, so please check in if you would like to see more of the commemorations.
Congratulations to the team at Albany Library for another wonderful event. Last night, before a screening of the classic Aussie movie The Lighthorsemen (complete with wine and popcorn), I spoke about my research for Light Horse Boy, including details about Sandy, the one Australian horse who came home from WW1 (New Zealand horse, Bess also came back). Reading the Beersheeba galloping scene (pgs 78-80) was fun as I don’t think I’ve looked at that part since proofing the final draft in 2012. As is often the case I saw a word I’d like to edit as I was reading, which is always disconcerting, but that’s another story… If anyone wants to read more about Sandy, there’s a short chapter in Anthony Hill’s terrific book for young readers, Animal Heroes.
Last night I was also excited to share some of my recent reading. I’m currently researching anthropomorphism in children’s literature for my PhD at UWA (more about that in future posts), and have found two loves; animal stories and WW1 stories combined in books by Roland Perry and Ion Idriess. Roland Perry will be in Albany next week for the commemoration of the 1914 Anzac departure and we will be In Conversation with other military authors/songwriters, Peter FitzSimons, Ted Egan and Ross Coulthart. I’ll be posting more about that next week, but in the meantime this site has all the latest info.
I had read Idriess’s Horrie the Wog Dog a while back, but had no idea until reading Perry’s Horrie the War Dog that there was another wonderful twist to this story. If you haven’t read these books, I really recommend both – but read Idriess first! Last week I also read Perry’s Bill the Bastard. What a terrific read. Again I’d read about ‘Bill’ years ago during my Light Horse Boy research and toyed with the idea of trying to shape the scene where Bill saves several men in battle into a picture book for young children. I could visualise the scenes so clearly, but how to get past the name; Bill the Bastard isn’t a book parents and primary teachers would rush to buy, but Bill the Naughty Horse didn’t work either!
Roland Perry has combined that pivotal scene with other fascinating details of this horse. It’s a great read. Next week I hope to post more details about the commemorations. Best till then, Dianne
Dardanup Primary students have been doing beautiful charcoal sketches of scenes from Light Horse Boy.
Recently I went to Radio Fremantle to record an excerpt from my book Light Horse Boy.
Head to Fremantle Press’ Classroom Express blog to hear me read the excerpt.
Earlier this week I spoke with Andrew Collins on ABC Great Southern about my book Lighthouse Girl.
You can hear the interview at the ABC Great Southern website.
Thanks Andrew for a fun interview!
The students at Mt Barker Community College have been doing amazing extension activities around Light Horse Boy.
Ms Klinac’s and Mrs Macmahon’s students are researching WW1 and creating beautiful charcoal sketchwork, Morse Code messages, military dioramas and much more.
Here’s a sneek peek of some of their creative work…
Fremantle Press has just launched a fun new teacher feature on their website, looking at how a teacher has used a particular book in the classroom.
The first book featured is Light Horse Boy, with links to interesting classroom activities done by Sarah McNamara and her students at Flinders Park Primary School in Albany. Click the link below to read more.
Teacher Feature on Light Horse Boy (external site)
Meg McKinlay launching Light Horse Boy at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore 2013.
Dianne Wolfer 
