NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2024 author interviews

Beloved Australian author Nova Weetman talks to Katherina from Glenfield Public School about what inspired her to become an author, how she infuses elements of her personality into her characters, and the difference between writing for television and novels. Join them as they chat about Sick Bay, the book Nova wrote when she was 12 years old, and hint at her upcoming books!

Thank you to the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Primary Schools Day for hosting us backstage. 
 

Join Afreen from Glenfield Public School as she interviews Lev Grossman backstage at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Primary Schools Day. Lev chats about merging his love of steam trains with magic and a desire to incorporate strong environmental themes in The Silver Arrow.

Tasma Walton is the author of Nerra: Deep Time Traveller. She was joined backstage at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Primary Schools Day by Mysha from Glenfield Public School to talk about her brand-new series. Join them as Tasma discusses how the Dreaming story of the Creation rainbow inspired Nerra, the challenges of writing a time-slip novel, and her writing process.

Dynamic author duo Kate and Jol Temple chat with Kashif from Glenfield Public School about their writing and finding joy in reading. Join them backstage at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival to hear how they come up with ideas as co-authors, the hardest books they’ve ever written, and give an exclusive sneak peek into their upcoming Frog Squad titles.

Bestselling Australian author C.S Pacat talks to Lesley from Bankstown Girls High School backstage at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Secondary Schools Day. Join them as they chat about how writing fan fiction helped develop Pacat’s writing skills and confidence, how friendships feature as a core focus of Pacat’s writing, and how competing in fencing inspired the Fence graphic novels.

Graham Akhurst joins Tracey from Bankstown Girls High School backstage at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Secondary Schools Day to talk about his debut YA novel, Borderlands. Graham shares both the personal and real-life events that influenced the plot of Borderlands, his feelings on the mining and fracking industries, and the writing and publishing process behind his first novel.

Join award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo and Emel from Bankstown Girls High School for a heartwarming conversation about the importance of readers feeling seen in the stories they consume and how this inspired her writing. Elizabeth shares her childhood dreams of becoming a rapper and how that led to her writing verse novels, the poetry that inspired her writing, and how she hopes to inspire young people to feel brave through her writing.

Thank you to the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Secondary Schools Day for hosting us backstage!

Jack Heath is the #1 bestselling author of over 40 novels. He joined Kaylee from Bankstown Girls High School backstage at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival Secondary Schools Day. Join them as Jack talks about his latest releases, If you tell anyone, you’re next and The Peak, the difference between writing a novel and a collection of short stories, and which of his books he’d love to be adapted into a movie.