New Zealand charity sponsors creative workshops for young writers these school holidays

The New Zealand Book Council is proud to support KidsFest 2015 by sponsoring four creative workshops for children aged 8–13, which will be delivered by WORD Christchurch this July.

The Book Council’s mission is to champion the lifelong engagement of New Zealanders in reading, and to lead the promotion and nurturing of NZ writers, writing and books.

“We are dedicated to inspiring a love of reading because we know the difference this makes to young lives. OECD research shows reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success.” – Catriona Ferguson, Chief Executive.

Kidsfest is an annual festival of events designed especially for children. It first started in 1992 to entertain and stimulate children during the winter school holidays.

Originally held in Christchurch, it now reaches out to much of central Canterbury with events also held in Banks Peninsula, Waimakariri and Selwyn Districts.

Sponsored by the Book Council, WORD Christchurch will run four creative workshops for kids aged 8-13 during KidsFest this July:

The Magic of Words: a fun poetry workshop with Doc Drumheller from the Christchurch School for Young Writers.

Choose Your Own Adventure: a story-writing workshop with children’s author (Red Rocks) and WORD Christchurch Literary Director Rachael King.

Creating Comics: Who’s the Star? A comic-making workshop with author and cartoonist Sarah Laing focusing on inventing characters.

Creating Comics: Your Wonderful World:  a comic-making workshop with author and cartoonist Sarah Laing focusing on world-building and setting.