By Mikayla van Loon
Inspiring the next generation of readers and writers is something acclaimed Australian children’s and young adult author Kirsty Murray finds so rewarding about her role.
In a celebration of Library and Information Week (LIW), students and parents from Mount Lilydale Mercy College were able to ask questions and delve into the world of creative writing when Ms Murray came to visit Monday 25 July.
MLMC Library and Information Services Leader Megan Ryan said Library and Information Week celebrates the importance of libraries in societies and within school communities.
“Libraries provide opportunities for communities to grow and connect on local, national and global scales,” she said.
As someone who reflects quite heavily on history in her own writing, Ms Murray said the LIW theme of Rewrite, Renew, Reimagine excites the possibility of telling stories from a different perspective.
“Post-pandemic, we need to rethink everything. We need to reimagine. The world didn’t look like this four years ago, the way it looks now,” she said.
“As storytellers and writers we’re rethinking the emphasis we give in certain narratives. We’re rethinking our relationship to landscape and relationship to each other, questions of diversity, questions of reconciliation.
“This all requires contemporary writers to to reimagine how a story has been told and stories always need to be reimagined and refreshed and revisited.”
Having written 24 books mostly focused on historical fiction and Australian narratives, Ms Murray said she is already somewhat inclined to re-examine the past.
Weaving this into her talk on Monday, she hoped students would explore their own family histories and connection to place.
The joy of working with children and young people, Ms Murray said, is seeing them find connection in a story, as well as sharing their own ideas as budding authors.
“I really hope that we have a conversation about how you connect with Australian literature and Australian stories.
“We’re going to do a little bit of thinking about how family stories and familiar landscapes connect to good literature, good stories. What you’re looking for when you tell a story is you’re looking for a point of connection.”
Passionate about adventurously reading, Ms Murray said young people had been disconnected from the ability to read a wide variety of books with the closure of library services over the last two years.
Wanting to challenge the traditional, multinational best sellers, Ms Murray said “every parent, every grandparent, every teacher, every librarian need to help kids navigate their way into Australian stories.”
Ms Murray congratulated MLMC on its unconventionality in providing an opportunity for students and parents to interact with creative writing and to inspire reading.
“It’s a great initiative that the school is really trying to engage the community and the students with the library and at a good school, their library is at the heart of the school.”
