There were celebrations aplenty last month during our April Write Links meeting. We started with our monthly Professional Development session with a presentation by author Yvonne Mes on ‘Getting the Most out of Attending Writer’s Conferences’ and concluded with our celebrations organised by Alison Stegert.

This year Write Links celebrates three years of networking, supporting each other, sharing our ups and downs, and critiquing each other’s stories.

What started as a small group meeting for the first time three years ago through a combined efforts of Book Links and SCBWI QLD who recognised a need for a critique group specifically for children’s writers,  has turned into a vibrant writer’s groups with around 40 active members including aspiring and emerging children’s authors and illustrators, published authors and illustrators and award winning children’s author and everything in the middle.

International Children’s Book Day/ Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday also fell on the day of our meeting, the 2nd of April. We took the opportunity to reflect on the many successes achieved by Write Link members over the last three years which we celebrated by eating this fabulous cake by Martii Maclean inspired by Hans Christian’s story of The Little Mermaid.

But that certainly wasn’t all, there was more to come …

Jenny Stubbs, Book Links president, announced that Jackie French has accepted the position of Book Links and Write Links patron. Write Links couldn’t be more prouder to have Jackie French as a patron. Former Children’s Literature Laureate, passionate advocate of the importance of books and reading for children our patron couldn’t be more fitting.
Book Links is hosting a fabulous event, which is open to the public, at Riverbend Books to celebrate the occasion on Monday the 30th of May from 6 to 8pm where Jackie will take the opportunity to discuss  why governments ignore the Power of Story at their peril. Read more about this, and book your tickets https://booklinks.org.au/2016/04/24/jackie-french-dynamo-dyslexic-and-wombat-herder/

And check out this impromptu drawing by illustrator Giuseppe Poli to commemorate Write Link’s birthday using one of the characters of his latest picture book ‘Oliver’s Grumbles’.