Over 6,000 Australian school students meet an author and illustrator through the first year of the LitUp program.
LitUp is a live literature initiative from Australia Reads, providing opportunities for more Australian schools and communities to host events with authors and illustrators.
Over 6,000 Australian students and members of the public experienced the joy of meeting an author or illustrator through a total of 82 live literature events run across schools, libraries, bookshops and community centres of participating communities.
With the support of Writing Australia and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the pilot program saw 13 acclaimed Australian children’s authors visit 16 communities and engage with 37 organisations across New South Wales and Queensland.
We were thrilled to have leading Australian authors and creators participate in the pilot program including James Foley, Lachlann Carter, Katrina Nannestad, Deb Abela, Gus Gordon, Aleesha Darlinson, Dub Leffler, Jack Heath, Sami Bayly, Rebecca Timms, Kate & Jol Temple, Meredith Costain and Charlotte Barkla.
I LOVE this initiative so much. As a kid from Western Sydney who wanted to be an author but never even dreamed of meeting one, I am such a huge fan of funding programs that connect authors/illustrators and kids who may otherwise miss out.
—Deb Abela, participating LitUp author
Thanks to the support of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, the program also provided book packs of visiting authors’ works to communities, with over 1,100 books purchased from 11 Australian booksellers through the program.
Australia Reads thanks all the teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents and young people who participated in round one of the LitUp program, and extend our gratitude to Writing Australia, the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund and Tim Fairfax Family Foundation for their support of the program.
“With LitUp’s support, we were able to host an author who would otherwise have been beyond our budget, while also strengthening connections between schools and libraries and creating valuable networks for future collaboration.”
– Sarah Ziemba, LitUp participant & teacher librarian, East Maitland
The participating communities in round two of the LitUp program will be announced soon – stay tuned!