Sophie brings rhyme and reason for kids

Bookings are now open for poetry writing workshops for kids being held at the Armidale and Guyra libraries in June and July, inspiring young people to write, illustrate and decorate their own poems.

Award-winning local author Sophie Masson will hold the workshops, using her new poetry book, A Boat of Stars, to inspire children aged 6 to 12.

“Children have such wonderful imaginations and often come up with some really fun and creative poems,” Ms Masson said.

“One of my favourite things is to help children develop their poetry skills, including how they illustrate and present what they have written.”

The workshops at Armidale War Memorial Library will be held over two one-hour sessions, on Monday 18 June and Monday 25 June, from 4pm. The first session will look at creating and writing a poem. The following week, participants will learn to illustrate and decorate their poems at the second session.

The workshop at Guyra Library will be held on one day, Wednesday 18 July, with creating and writing from 10am to 10.45am and illustrating and decorating from 11am to 11.45am.

Workshop coordinator and Armidale Cataloguing Librarian Kirsten Bell said: “Children will take their poems from the first session of each workshop and further bring them to life with illustrations and design. So they will need to participate in the first session to attend the second.

“The region is extremely fortunate to have a wealth of artists in our area and we’re very lucky to have a poet of Sophie’s calibre to conduct the workshop,” Ms Bell said.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for local kids to learn more about the art form from a highly accomplished author.”

The free workshops are open to all children aged 6 to 12.

To book at spot, phone 6770 3636 for the Armidale workshop or 6770 7123 for the Guyra workshop.

Published on 23 May 2018