Lit Buzz on WISS Campus

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By WISS Admin | April 27, 2009

This past March proved to be a big month for literature buffs in Shanghai as an amazing roster of famed authors got together to celebrate Shanghai International Literary Festival (SILF). As one sponsor for the SILF, Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) managed to invite two of the well-known intellectuals to speak to the students on what it takes to create a book, which spawned a buzz of enthusiasm on the campus.

The first visit was made by Markus Zusak, author of New York Times bestseller The Book Thief, on March 6. All the middle school students attended this session. To start, Markus threw out a question “Have you ever been robbed?”, which found few in the audience putting up their hands. He then shared his encounter with a thief in his house one day. The speech turned out to be captivating story-telling as Markus artfully divulged more of his funny anecdotes such as the story about his mother hitting him with a wooden spoon, just as a character does with her step child in The Book Thief. Through these anecdotes, Markus shed light on how to write a good story: Pay attention to small details and develop the plot in an unexpected twist. The next session was devoted to a discussion about The Book Thief with the 9^th graders, who were exploring this book set in Germany during WWII with their English teacher Dr. Alfonso Orsini. “The visit of a young adult fiction writer like Zusak allows and provokes classroom discussion on sensitive and complex subjects, something which is an essential and necessary part of our middle school education,”Commented Tom Kline, WISS Middle School Principal.

The other highly acclaimed writer, Jane Godwin, author of “Falling from Grace” and numerous award-winning childrens’ and young adults’ books, spent the whole day tirelessly working with different age groups in four sessions. The first one focused on how togather ideas for stories. Jane read some picture story books with the students and parents in G1-3 and engaged them in fun activities related to the stories. Also, she demonstrated how a picture book was made through steps from the initial idea to finished product. The second and third workshops offered young writers in G4 up to G7 tips on developing their own ideas for stories. By using her work as an example, Jane shared with the participants how her own stories evolved through a creative process. The children had a chance to write a brief paragraph according to a picture and explore their own style with Jane’s spontaneous analysis. A publisher at Penguin Australia, Jane introduced the publishing process and how books are actually made in the end. The last session was for Kindergarten children who were investigating different ways to express themselves. Through fun and stimulating activities, Jane pointed out to the children that writing can be a good way to convey their emotions. She brought with her a pacifier to illustrate how her daughter‘s story of saying goodbye to her pacifier was brought to life in one of her books.

Though the SILF has come to a close, the book-loving zeal is not going to fade at WISS with some good news in the pipeline. According to WISS librarian Jeroen Callens, one of the driving forces behind the extranvaganza, Randall P. Girdner, a budding author of “Boyd McCloyd” and Ridley Pearson, the renowned author of “Peter and the Starcatchers” will be coming to contribute to the literature feast at WISS In early June.