Children’s Festival Workshops POETRY Workshop with Chrissie Gittins
MONSTER DOODLE EVENT with NIAMH SHARKEY
Age Range: 6 - 9 years / 15 children MAX Thursday – Friday 11 – 12 July, 10.00 – 12.00 Bantry Library / FREE
Laureate na nÓg / Children’s Literature Laureate Age Range: 7 – 10 years / 20 CHILDREN MAX Tuesday 9 July, 14.30 – 16.00 St. Brendan’s School HALL /€5
Come and make your thoughts sing and your words fizz into thin air, and then fall into a poem. We’ll tell lies, launch porkie pies, and stretch our imaginations as far as the coast of America. Starting with word games we’ll go on to write a group poem before you get to write your own stuff. When we have our first draft, we’ll think about editing, lay-out and titles. Finally, we’ll be audience and performers as we hear what’s been written.
Join picture book maker Niamh Sharkey as she helps you unleash you inner monsters onto a gigantic doodle drawing. Working with Niamh, young participants will fill a giant canvas with all sorts of monsters and mayhem. Get creative and bring all your imagination with you as you draw, doodle and design your way through this fun creative experience. Materials provided.
Chrissie Gittins’ children’s poems have won two Belmont Poetry Prizes and been animated for Cbeebies TV. All three of her collections – Now You See Me, Now You …, I Don’t Want an Avocado for an Uncle and The Humpback’s Wail are PBS Choices for the Children’s Poetry Bookshelf and two have been short-listed for the CLPE Award. Her New and Collected children’s poems will be published by Bloomsbury in 2013. The Poetry Archive website features Chrissie reading her children's poems. She also writes poetry for adults, short fiction and radio drama. Left: Chrissie Gittins
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Niamh Sharkey is Ireland’s second Laureate na nÓg. Author and illustrator of children’s picture books, her books have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Bisto Book of the Year for her first two Picture Books; Tales of Wisdom and Wonder and The Gigantic Turnip. Her most recent picture book, On the Road with Mavis and Marge, won the 2010 Junior Book of the Year Award. Niamh’s books have been translated into over 20 languages. Tales from Old Ireland was included in the International Board of Books for Young People Honour Book List in 2002. She is the creator and co-producer of Henry Hugglemonster – a pre-school series, based on her book I’m a Happy Hugglewug, developed in association with the Irish Film Board and in production with Oscar-nominated Brown Bag Films, for Disney Worldwide. Niamh lives in Skerries with her husband Owen, three children and their dog.