IEU Qld and NT Literary Competition Awards Speech
by Cori Brooke
My name is Cori Brooke and I am write children’s books.
I’d like to first start with some thank you’s:
- - the Independent Education Union Qld and Northern
Territory Branch for inviting me to be a guest presenter
- Next thank you to the delegates in attendance:
o President of the Independent Education Union of
Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory
Branch, Mr Andrew Elphinstone
o Secretary of the Independent Education Union of
Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory
Branch, Mr Terry Burke
o Immediate Past President of the English Teachers
Association of Queensland, Mr Garry Collins
o Ms Deb Peden, Literary Competition Coordinator for
ETAQ
- to the judges of the various sections of the competition
- to the talented young people who have entered this
competition and who are here tonight
- to the families and friends of the finalists
- and to the multicultural centre for the use of the facilities
- I think it is also really important to thank the Independent
Education Union for running this competition.
Here is a little bit about me.
I am from Canada, which is why I talk funny.
I have a Creative Industries and Law degree and a postgraduate
diploma of legal practice. I was admitted as a lawyer in 2009 (don’t
hate me!) but, thankfully, I have never practiced as a lawyer.
I currently work as an investigator at a federal government agency.
I also have a five year old boy named Spencer.
Which brings me to why I wrote my first published picture book,
Max and George. I wrote the manuscript for Max and George after
my son noticed his reflection in a bifold door when he was very
young. The book isn’t exactly about that moment, it is actually
about a young boy who has an imaginary friend who lives in
windows and who is nervous about starting grade one, but it was
directly inspired by that moment.
My second book, Fearless with Dad, was written specifically about
and for my husband and son. It is a very special book and I hope
that Dads enjoy it as much as kids do. I also hope it portrays Dads
in a more flattering light than they are normally portrayed in the
media. I’m very excited because yesterday I heard that my
publisher might be doing a second print run of Fearless with Dad.
I have a great interest and empathy for the important people who
grow and produce our food and so my third book, which will be
published in December 2016, is a Christmas book about farmers
and the drought. I hope it will be an important educative tool and
give some happiness to farmers and people struggling with the
drought.
Okay so that is a bit about me.
It is a great privilege for me to be able to talk to you tonight and to
be able to talk about whatever I want. When I was thinking about
what I was going to talk about, I decided I wanted to talk about 2
things:
1) when is your writing going to be at its best? and
2) how life can take you on unexpected journeys and adventures
(and how this can effect your writing).
Firstly, I can tell you right now that when you write from the heart,
your writing will absolutely be fabulous – it will be at its best. My
three books were written directly from my heart.
You will know something about me by reading my books. If I read
your work, I want to know something about you. I expect to know
something about you.
In JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, a book I hope you have
either read or are going to read, Holden Caulfield states:
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done
reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of
yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt
like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
Those books where you wish the author was a friend, those are
special books. Think about your very favourite books. I bet this is
how they make you feel. That is because those authors wrote from
their heart.
When you write from the heart it will flow. It won’t necessarily be
easily – I am not saying it will be easy - but it will flow. Let it flow –
edit it later. And if it isn’t flowing – ask yourself this question: do I
really care about what I am writing about right now? If the answer
is no – stop and write about something that you do care about.
And when I say ‘write from your heart’ I don’t mean it needs to be
all touchy feely – that isn’t what I am saying. I am saying write
what you know about. Write about your passions. Write often.
Write honestly. Write directly from your heart and that will be your
best writing.
Another quote I like is this one:
Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you;
figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you
have to offer.
– Barbara Kingsolver
My editor once told me that to get a book published – and this is
especially relevant in the current publishing climate – you need an
edge, your book needs to be unique, have a unique voice. The
cool thing about this is that we are all unique. So if we are writing
from deep within our brains and our hearts, our writing will be
unique.
That is what you brought you, the finalists, here – because your
writing rose above the writing of others. It was unique and it had an
edge. I would like to make a bet that the talented young writers
here tonight are here because you wrote from your heart and that
shone through to the judges. So please remember: your writing will
be at its best when it comes from the heart.
The next thing I wanted to talk about is how life can take you on
unexpected journeys and adventures (and how this can effect your
writing). You are all young, you have your whole lives ahead of you
and you will go on amazing journeys and adventures – and your
writing can go on those adventures with you.
My life is a good example of an unexpected journey: if someone
had told me that when I was 36 I would have children’s picture
books published in Australia (and, with Max and George, in France
and South Korea) I also would have laughed at them.
And by extension, if someone had told me 20 years ago I would be
presenting literary awards to young people in Brisbane Australia in
2015, I would have laughed at them and told them they were
completely nuts.
You just never know where life will take you.
I’ve not been a writer my whole life. I loved creative writing as a
young person but then I took a very long break from creative
writing – I wish I hadn’t. I wrote mountains of essays at uni but
there is nothing even remotely creative about a law school essay.
And in my job in the government, there is no room for creativity of
any kind. It is dull, boring writing that has to fit into style guides and
fit within the strict parameters of the agency I work for.
I think writing finds you when you need it to. I needed to start
writing again when my son was born because it was a creative
outlet for me. I also wanted to capture his childhood somehow and
stories inspired by him seemed like a great idea – that they ended
up being published as real tangible books still seems like a dream
to me.
Even with two books published and a third on the way, I don’t
consider myself an author. I often have to pinch myself. It has
been a great journey so far and I am so fortunate to have been
able to write stories for my family that the whole world can read
and enjoy.
Writing can capture a time, a place, a memory for you. Your writing
can be for you alone or it can be for the whole world.
Writing well is also a lifelong skill. I am a far better written
communicator than I am verbal communicator. I like to write,
contemplate and reflect, and then edit. You can’t do that in verbal
conversation.
You simply do not know where life will take you and what will
inspire your writing. I hope you all go on many inspiring journeys
and adventures in your life, and I hope your writing goes on those
journeys with you. I hope your writing makes you happy and is like
an old friend you can rely on. I really hope you all continue to write
creatively.
The last thing I’ll leave you with is this: just because I – and other
published authors - have had books published, doesn’t mean I – or
other published authors – are any better than any of you. We all
just got a lucky break – I am standing up here simply because of
sheer luck.
We also probably persevered through many rejection letters, but
mainly it is about getting a lucky break. Be tenacious and
persevere. Never give up.
I wish you all the luck in the world and that you are able to take
your writing where you want to take it. I congratulate all of the
finalists for your achievements tonight – I hope you are all very
proud of yourself and your accomplishments. Thank you.