Australia’s National Year of Reading 2012 was launched today, 14 February, in the capital city, Canberra.
My colleagues Barbie and Rhonda of Paint the Town REaD were on hand to celebrate the launch with David Bradbury, MP for Penrith.
When I ran workshops for high schoolers at the University of London, I always encouraged the students to discuss gender roles. Whenever possible, I included sessions on Angela Carter, Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth, and the great Leonora Carrington.
This week, I’ve got a new piece up at the culture and gender site Role/Reboot, discussing the TV show Justified.
In ‘The Marshal and His Women’, I ask if this sharply written show will have a positive impact on definitions of masculinity, or merely perpetuate the same old stereotypes.
You can read my thoughts on Justified at http://www.rolereboot.org/life/details/2012-01-the-marshal-and-his-women-can-tvs-justified-reboot-t
For more on Angela Carter, see my review of a 2010 youth theatre adaptation of her collection The Bloody Chamber, at http://thefairytalecupboard.blogspot.com/2010/05/guest-post-matthew-finch-on-playbox.html
Over on my Tumblr page there’s a new post with a brief interview.
Corin Haines of Auckland Libraries – whose Central Library recently hosted an impromptu gig by alternative cabaret act The Dresden Dolls – took the time for a quick chat about notions of what libraries, and literacy, can be.
See the post here: http://matthewfinch.tumblr.com/post/16633129913/new-zealand-has-a-reputation-as-a-remote
Is the universe made of stories? Human beings can’t keep from telling tales, or listening to them – whether it’s creation myths or the “grand narratives” of science and politics, flights of fantasy or just an answer to the question, “So what did you do today?”
For more than four decades, one woman has sustained the tradition of oral storytelling in the heart of Manhattan. In 1968, Diane Wolkstein began an official role with New York’s Department of Parks and Recreation which has brought stories from around the world to life through her passion and craft.
Diane caught up with me recently to discuss her career, the challenges of drawing on stories from other cultures, and the business of telling tales in the modern metropolis.
Nikky Smedley, the performer, storyteller and choreographer best known for her role as the Teletubby Laa Laa, first appeared on my site back in 2010, when she took her children’s dance show The Tell Woman on tour in the UK.
On the eve of my interview with New York’s official storyteller Diane Wolkstein, Nikky joins us again for a guest post about storytelling and education in 2012.
You can see my latest community events piece, on New York’s First Annual Kids’ Food Festival,at http://www.dnainfo.com/20120123/midtown/kids-learn-about-healthy-eating-bryant-park
More from NYC soon…
12 months ago, I couldn’t imagine that 2011 could top a year that included a speech at the House of Commons and two half-marathons, one of them raising funds for the literacy volunteers at Volunteer Reading Help.
As it turned out, January 2011 marked the beginning of even more travel and adventures than I’d expected.
2011 has been an incredible year, taking me from New York schools to the mountains of Peru and the snowy streets of Helsinki. I’ve been privileged to work with Australia’s great early literacy scheme Paint the Town REaD, and meet incredible writers, performers, storytellers, literacy and education professionals from around the world.
There’ll be a full review of the year closer to the end of this month, but in the meantime here’s two great Christmas stories about hope in the face of entropy.
“We think we are the lucky country, but what we really have is…too much luck, more luck than we know what to do with.”
-Paul Cleary
The first thing an overseas visitor notices on arriving in Australia today is the relative prosperity which its citizens enjoy. While the British government preaches austerity and American protestors Occupy Wall Street in response to the global financial crisis, the café culture on Sydney’s sidewalks bears testament to the boom Australians are currently experiencing. Though Manhattan itself now struggles to fill its shopfronts, even Australia’s smallest service businesses seem to thrive despite the GFC.
Much of the current boom can be ascribed to Australia’s mining sector, which plays a vital part in national life. Whole towns exist to service the resource industry and mines, as major employers and resource users, bear a substantial community responsibility.
Back in October, I got in touch with the folks at New York Harbor School on the eve of their First Annual Regatta, a nautical event to celebrate the school’s work bringing a unique brand of maritime education to the city’s students.
I discovered the Harbor School while auditing a course for Special Education leaders at New York’s Bank Street College back in February. I was impressed to encounter a US institution which brought together public education with a strong community commitment and a fearsome range of practical training including marine technology, commercial diving and aquaculture!
In my teens I was keener to skive off kayaking lessons and sneak out to Birmingham for shopping and pizza than get on the water. Now, at 31, I can only dream of the kind of maritime opportunities the Harbor School offers its students.
Nate Dudley, the founding principal, got in touch with me by e-mail to discuss the educational adventure currently taking place on Governor’s Island in New York.
matt finch / mechanical dolphin 