Monthly Archives: June 2016

Scholarships extended by another week

Term 3 Creative Dragons scholarship applications have been extended until Monday, June 27.

Application for after schools scholarship 2016 After yesterday’s article in The Chronicle, Cherie Curtis was contacted by parents and asked if the scholarship application deadline (which was tomorrow) could be extended – many parents hadn’t known about the scholarship and were asking for more time to apply.

For those who wish to apply, simply download this form and email to cherie@creativedragons.com.au, along with a one-page essay by the prospective student, explaining why they feel they should be chosen, as well as 1-3 sample pages of their creative writing.

Scholarship recipients will be announced on Wednesday, July 6, via this website.

Writing grants take young scribes to greater heights

The Toowoomba Chronicle today featured Creative Dragons’ move to Toowoomba and the writing scholarships on offer to children and teenagers in the Toowoomba region for Term 3.

What captured my attention the most was the news article reference to me as a “Toowoomba author”. I haven’t lived in Toowoomba for many years. For the past few years, I’ve been a Bundaberg or Bargara author, or Queensland or Australian. The “Toowoomba author” signified that I am embarking on a journey to new horizons where I’ll be embracing new personalities and new challenges. What will my new writing students be like? And what talents are hiding inside them, waiting to be unleashed?

The countdown is on. Five weeks until I arrive. How many wonderful discoveries will I find. I cannot wait.

If you haven’t read about Creative Dragons’ move to Toowoomba, and the writing classes I’ll be teaching there, check out The Chronicle article here or read here.

Snail Mail adds magic to my day

Do you like writing? Do you also like receiving letters via the old-fashioned letterbox at the front of your yard? Delivered by a real, live postman on a noisy motorbike?

One of my greatest joys is receiving snail mail from close family and friends. I never know who might write to me – or what their latest news might be. It takes time to write snail mail, but that also makes the treasure all the more prized.

This week, I had double the treasure in one day. These two snail mail letters (left) arrived in my letterbox. They were cause for a special celebration because my nine-year-old niece, Katie, wrote to me for the first time. The other letter was from my 90-year-old aunt, Miriam. This is probably the 900th time she’s written to me, but no matter how many times I receive a letter from her, it still feels wonderful, like she’s actually visiting me in person.

I’m so happy that my niece and nephew have discovered the same joy of letter writing and receiving that my aunt shared with me from a very young age.

Have you ever written to a relative or a friend? Writing snail mail helps clarify your thoughts, discover your writing voice and enables you to share with friends. Will you accept the Snail Mail challenge? Who can you write a snail mail to today?

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