This year's Bendigo
Writers Festival has been really interesting and thought-provoking.
I'm writing this blog on the evening of Friday the 8th of
August, and officially, for most people, the festival hasn't even
started. When I rang up to book my place in the Friday sessions, The
Capital's employee sounded puzzled, and kept repeating that Friday
was for the school groups – was I sure I wanted to go? I'm glad I
made the effort. Sophie Masson was my favourite author of the day. I
sat in the front row of each session I chose, and suddenly Sophie
would walk in (three times!), and sit down right in front of me. I'm
sure I inadvertently looked like a bit of a stalker. It probably
didn't help that I had my camera out, and kept click-clicking away. I
wasn't expecting to enjoy Sophie Masson so much, but in the The
Greatest Writing session she
really came alive. She spoke about her childhood literary passions,
the importance of children's literature, and the significance
of fairytales. She even stated at one point that fairytales are “some
of the most profound things ever written”, and she mentioned some of
her own books, which are reinventions of fairytales. This was of
particular interest to me, as I've read a great deal of reinvented
fairytales for young adults. There's a kind of magic to them, and a
recognition of sorts. Reading these reinventions feels like bumping
into an old friend many years later – you feel that spark of
recognition, but there's also something new; they've grown and
changed along the way.
I want to finish this
blog with a Sophie Masson quote about fairytales, which is that “they
are truth from the inside of us.”
We ought to have had 'I <3 Sophie' printed on our tshirts.
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