Visit from Footy Author
Author and Comedian David Lawrence visited Ballarat in late April and was joined by footballers from the Roosters (North Ballarat Football Club) visiting local primary schools to promote reading, writing and of course football. David and the footballers also made a special appearance at Collins Booksellers on Sturt Street.
David co-wrote ‘Fox Swift’, the story of an 11 year-old footy star whose family moves from the city to a country town. The book includes hilarious training drills and footy tips by Cyril Rioli, as well as pictures by comedian Jo Gill.
David says ‘… like most writers I started out as a financial analyst. To the ‘delight’ of my parents I threw in that well paid, secure job and started doing stand-up comedy. I wrote and performed in a number of Comedy Festival Shows and that helped me get my first TV job; writing for the sketch comedy show ‘ The Big Bite’. It starred Chris Lilley, Andrew O’Keefe and most importantly Jo Gill.’
David visited Urquhart Park, Forest Street and Sebastopol primary schools where he had his audiences captivated and keen to help with writing another book. David was surrounded by eager children wanting an autograph.
David had his audiences involved by asking them about their favourite characters in his existing books, and then asking for their ideas on who should be in the next Fox Swift book that David is writing. The ideas were pretty way out, with the students asking for zombies, and snakes and unicorns.
He then got involved with creating a story with them, telling them that a story is written with a beginning, a middle and an ending. The stories ended up being fun and full of lots of interesting plot twists that had all the children and teachers laughing. The power of a child’s imagination was certainly on show. David reminded the children that when they are doing the writing, they can create their own endings. He encouraged the children to keep on writing, and seeking advice from their teachers.
The feedback from the schools has been so warm and full of gratitude.
The schools have been in touch to tell us about the students creative minds and how they have come up with many new characters and ideas for new books!
You just don’t know what sort of a seed has been planted. This visit mattered….
The next book in the series is about to be published and includes a dedication to the Students David visited on the day.
The visit has also been the impetus for some Roosters players, as community role models, to take an active role within local classrooms, assisting with reading and literacy programs.
