Category: Historical fiction

Don, son of Fay and his lovely wife Peg

For readers wanting to know more about the real Fay Catherine Howe, you might be interested in the article on page 14 of today’s West Australian newspaper. Don Watson, the son of Lighthouse Girl, Fay tells about his mother’s childhood; how waves would sometimes break over the lighthouse and how Fay would go out with a rifle to shoot mutton birds when the monthly supply boat was unable to get out to the island.

d and p

The article also features a photo of Don with his wife, Peg with some of the hundreds of scarlet poppies which Peg has crocheted to bind into a wreath for the Little Girl Giant. The links to Fay and the final moment when The Giants sail into the Swan River will be unforgettable for all of us.

 

The Giants are Coming…

On Friday 13th February The Giants will begin their journey through the streets of Perth. It feels like ages ago that I met Jean-Luc Courcoult and members of Royal de Luxe in a cafe’ in Albany. Thanks to everyone who has helped since then to ensure that these amazing Giants can be here. I’m honoured that Lighthouse Girl has been part inspiration for this exciting event. I’ll be in Perth all weekend watching their progress, so expect plenty of photos soon!

I’ve included an extract from the story, but please click on the link below to read it all.

The Story

One day, one of the community’s children brought her an old book full of drawings. It was dog-eared, crumpled, aged. It told the story of a little girl in a lighthouse full of love and sorrow, who watched soldiers leaving Australia on ships, carrying hope into lost battles. It was 1915 on the beaches of Gallipoli where the sand, reddened by the blood of men, frightened the moon. Through the book, the Little Girl Giant, as she looked at the sky, saw the past, the present and even the future.

Shopping time …

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.

                                       LHB cover LHG cover

https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/dianne-wolfer/id931550728?mt=11

Cocos 100 Commemoration of HMAS Sydney and SMS Emden

LIght Horse Boy coverI 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.

photo photo 3 photo 2

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.

photo 1The 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.

l ddd

Thank you to the Literature Centre and Coco Islands School for sponsoring this very special visit.

10429811_10152701070713780_7000322669539587620_n

Christmas Island

looking at artwork

After the busy Anzac Commemoration weekend in Albany, The Literature Centre had organised for me to visit Cocos Island District School the following weekend to give presentations linked to the 100 year Commemoration of the battle between HMAS Sydney and SMS Emden (more of that and their link to the Anzac convoy in the next post). An exciting outcome for me, was that Christmas Island District School asked me to visit them on the way…n

Teacher-Librarian Sharon Francis organised my visit (as well as early morning snorkelling, kayaking and red crab hunting!) and I was touched by the enthusiasm of staff and students who prepared for my visit by reading all my books and creating linked art works to decorate the school. There were posters everywhere.

3 4 8 photo 1 photo 2 photo 4 2

The students know almost everything there is to know about sea creatures, so Granny Grommet and Me and Scuba Kid were especially popular.

The Pre-Primary class began with a scene from Granny Grommet and created a story of their own – somehow a lot of pirates became involved…  pp pirates

Reading Roselle 2Between sessions I was excited to see the beginning of the red crab season (and the teachers shared another crustacean for morning tea). Thank you to The Literature Centre for organising my visit and to Principal, Ian Francis and his lovely staff for making me feel so welcome. I had a wonderful time at Christmas Island District High School.j

t

Albany Anzac Weekend # 3

3writers 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.10613032_758961087496056_7526890517475751731_n

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…

Albany Anzac Weekend # 2

panorama

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…

photo 27

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.

ships with sumbamire and choppernEC

Albany Anzac Weekend # 1

IMG_2527  What a weekend!  IMG_2541

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 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.

10 3

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…

phototreoops  soldiers

‘The Lighthorsemen’ and Roland Perry

classic Australian movie parry

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

Mt Barker students learn about Light Horse Boy

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…

madeline-with-ms-klinac more-workbooks mt-barker-workbooks

July 23rd – Light Horse Boy classroom ideas

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)