How I discovered the Centre for Youth Literature

In a recent blog entry when I was giving a brief description of how I became a judge, I rather flippantly said that “I’m not anything really”. So who am I? Existential angst aside, I work in what is broadly called the financial industry. How I came across the Centre for Youth Literature is no little story and one of my most serendipitous discoveries. It needs its own post, rather than hijacking the previous posts about the Inky Awards.

As long as I can remember, I have loved reading. Even now though, I wouldn’t call myself a great reader. There are so many gaps, nay chasms, in my reading that I want to fill. As I’ve grown older, I have never seen the need or had the desire to stop reading children’s and young adult literature. My parents might say that it’s a sign that I’ve never really grown up! These are the books that I loved first, so why should I ever stop reading them? Of course, I read books for adults too, but children’s and young adult literature are and (most likely) always will be a large part of my reading.

Agnes Nieuwenhuizen

Working outside the book/library industry, and not having any particular connections to it, apart from reading, I wasn’t otherwise all that well informed about what was going on in the children/young adult literature world. In late 2007, I came across, perhaps while reading the newspaper, a mention of Agnes Nieuwenhuizen’s book Right Book, Right Time. It was a comprehensive guide to the great books of young adult literature – just the thing I was after. Agnes is one of the great driving forces behind youth literature in Australia, and was paramount in establishing the Centre for Youth Literature. While I was googling for some reviews on Agnes’s book I came across the following link. Exploring the Read Alert blog further, I saw this event advertised: a discussion on fantasy books following the end of the Harry Potter series. I emailed the Centre for Youth Literature for details, and Mike Shuttleworth, the then Program Co-ordinator replied.

The next week, I attended the event, had a ball, met Mike Shuttleworth, and heard some marvellous authors such as Carole Wilkinson, Penni Russon and Michael Pryor speak. Over the next few years, I regularly attended the Centre for Youth Literature events and attended their Reading Matters conferences. To put it mildly, I’m not a natural networker or extrovert, so when I attended first these events I was just happy to be there learning about books, and taking as much in as I could. Although I wasn’t involved in the industry and knew nobody at the start, throughout my time, I’ve been made to feel welcome at the CYL events by the great staff over the years. These include Mike Shuttleworth, Lili Wilkinson, Paula Kelly, Susan McLaine, Erin Ritchie, Cordelia Rice, Pam Saunders and Adele Walsh (apologies if I’ve missed anyone). As well as the CYL staff, the various attendees at CYL events have also made me feel at home. Saying thank you doesn’t begin to describe the gratitude I feel.

Mike Shuttleworth

As a result, the range and variety of my reading improved immensely. I got to meet librarians and authors at CYL events, I went to book launches and talks by authors, and I started following blogs on children’s and young adult literature. Of the latter, one of the many I read was Adele Walsh’s blog. Before she became Program Co-ordinator, she was known as a prolific and highly regarded reviewer and writer on YA literature. However, in a matter of weeks, she went from being a teacher/blogger/review to running the CYL. So after reading so many of her thoughts on YA literature, I was able to meet her when she started at the CYL this year. Most recently she asked me to be an Inky Awards judge, which forms the latest chapter in how the CYL has enriched my reading life beyond measure.

Adele Walsh

Borges once wrote something along the lines that “the crystallisation of a ruby will change the course of a river”. For me, the ruby was spawned by a Google search – on such small incidents life can change. To be less fanciful though, I  probably would have discovered the CYL at some later stage: they are not an obscure organisation, and my love of reading was likely to have led me to them. But the ruby (the CYL) crystallised in my life at that moment, and the course of my river irrevocably changed.

The Inky Awards Creative Reading Prize 2011 is now open

A couple of short updates:

On Friday, the details of the Creative Reading Prize for the Inky Awards were released. That post says all you need to know, but I'd like to emphasise that it can be on any book (not just the Inky Award longlist books), in any format, and for any age, although only those under 20 can win the Grand Prize (a Sony Reader Touch).

Throughout the week, the profiles of all the judges, who will also judge the Creative Reading Prize have been put on the Inside a Dog blog. I have also updated one of my previous posts to include links to all the judges' profiles (including my own).

I am a 2011 Inky Awards Judge! (Part 2)

Who are the Inky Award judges?

Yesterday, I gave some information on the Inky Awards. Today, I will talk about the judging. There are six judges. One member is always the previous year’s Gold Inky winner, who is currently Lucy Christopher. There are four teenage judges, Stacey, Iain, Stefanie and Jack selected by the Centre for Youth Literature. You can see the excited reactions of Tye Cattanach, Iain's teacher-librarian and at Mentone Grammar (Jack's school). 


Finally, there is one other adult judge, also selected by the Centre for Youth Literature, and is someone who has an interest in young adult literature. This year, that judge is me! You can see I went for what might be politely described as a “corporate look” in my profile photo – I need lots of help just to be halfway photogenic! Previous such judges included Ryan Paine in 2007, an editor of Voiceworks magazine, Andrew Finegan (2008), Adele Walsh (2009), and Andrew McDonald (2010). 

Three weeks ago, when I received the email invitation from Adele Walsh, the Program Co-ordinator at the Centre for Youth Literature, I couldn't quite believe it. Still can't. I thought about it for all of two seconds. I also did a (metaphorical) mad dance of celebration, then graciously and soberly (my interpretation) accepted the invitation.

What does being an Inky Award judge involve?

1. Read the 20 young adult books on the Gold and Silver Inky longlists.
2. Decide with my fellow judges which 5 books from each of the longlists will form the shortlist. These are the books that will be voted on by teenagers.
3. Decide the winners of the Creative Reading Prize.

 How do you become an Inky Awards judge?

The surest way to become an Inky Awards judge is to win the Gold Inky. You will then be guaranteed a spot on next year’s judging panel.

If that sounds too much like hard work, don’t despair. The second way is to be an Australian teenager (which is not all that easy either!), and love reading (which is very easy). There are four spots on the judging panel for teenagers, as the Inky Awards are voted on by teenagers, and so if you are really interested, you should keep an eye out on the Inside a Dog website for when applications open next year (usually around May-June). See this year’s call out for judges as an example. Basically, you should impress the CYL staff with your enthusiasm for reading. Having your school librarian to recommend you wouldn’t hurt your chances either.

Finally, if you are no longer a teenager, and are not in contention for a Gold Inky, then it gets a bit tricky. There is one position for an adult and there is no application process. Since I was appointed without any inkling (ahem) of what was going to happen, it’s a bit hard for me to give tips, but I’ll try.

1. You must love reading young adult literature (obvious).
2. Attend the activities of the Centre for Youth Literature (it's one way for them to know who you are).
3. Be extremely nice to the folk at the Centre for Youth Literature. A sum of money or a donation of many books wouldn’t go astray.
4. Drop subtle hints that you might want to be an Inky Awards judge.

I only did the first two, and I did the second one not because I had some grand schemes of becoming a judge, but because it was fun (what a cunning move!). The last two are of dubious morality, and the Centre for Youth Literature staff have most incorruptible characters. So my tips are utterly useless. Sorry.

So how did I get to be a judge?

The stars aligned and fortune smiled upon me. Oh and I like reading young adult literature too. I have no special qualifications: I have never been an author, publisher, bookseller, teacher, librarian, teacher-librarian, book reviewer etc. I’m not anything really! Truthfully, it wasn’t an “in my wildest dreams, I might be an Inky Awards judge” scenario; it never crossed my mind as a possibility. If I hadn’t been asked, I’d be doing my usual preparation for the Inky Awards i.e. read as much of the longlist as possible and attend the awards ceremony. Now I’m in the thick of it!

The short version is that I’ve attended the Centre for Youth Literature events for some years and I really enjoy it. Also, since my occupation is not anything related to typical attendees at these events, I suppose I am a bit of a novelty.  When I get asked the usual question so what library/school do you work for, I then reply "well actually, I work in...etc.". The longer version of how I encountered the Centre for Youth Literature will be told, but because I want to focus on the Inky Awards in this post, then “that’s another story to be told another time” (as it goes in The Neverending Story).

 How else can I get involved in the Inky Awards?

Being a judge is not the be all and end all. It’s not predominantly about judging; it’s about the authors, their books, and the readers. The Inky Awards are nothing without them. So how can you get involved?

1. If you are between the ages of 12 to 20, vote for your choice of the Gold and Silver Inky once the two shortlists are announced on 1 September.
2. Participate in the Creative Reading Prize. It’s open to anyone (with the exception of the Grand Prize) and can be about any book.
3. If you have the opportunity to interact with young readers in any way (work, parent, friends), raise awareness of these awards, and the Inside a Dog website, and encourage them to vote.
4. Read the books. The books on the lists invariably are of a high quality, and will give you great pleasure – and isn’t enjoyment of reading what it’s all about?
5. Attend the Inky Awards announcement on 25 October. See details here. 

That’s it on the 2011 Inky Awards for now. I won’t publicly review any of the books on the longlist before the awards are over, so as not to prejudice or pre-empt the outcome. Also, I won’t be saying anything about the content of  the discussions with the other judges. However, it is my hope that after the awards are over, I will have time to discuss my views of some of the longlist books.

I am a 2011 Inky Awards Judge! (Part 1)

As announced in this Read Alert blog post, I have been appointed a 2011 Inky Awards judge. As you might imagine, I’m very chuffed – I get to read stacks of young adult books and talk shop about YA literature with other enthusiastic judges. For the uninitiated, I’ll provide a little background on the Inky Awards.

What are the Inky Awards?

The Inside a Dog website says: “The Inkys are international awards for teenage literature that are voted for online by the readers of insideadog.com.au.  It recognises the fantastic home grown writing talent from Australia with the Gold Inky and also titles that come from across the ocean with the Silver Inky.”

The award was first given in 2007, and this is the fifth annual award. It is run by the Centre for Youth Literature (who run the Inside a Dog website), at the State of Library of Victoria. You can view the past winners in the sidebar of this page. More detailed award guidelines are provided are also provided on the website.

In addition to the prizes for books, there’s a Creative Reading Prize. It is open to anyone and it is a creative response in any format for any book that you love (it doesn’t have to be an Inky Awards longlist book). Note, however, that the Grand prize can only be won by someone under the age of 20.

If you want to get an idea how happy the winning authors can be have a look at John Green after Looking for Alaska won the 2007 Silver Inky:

Or see this lovely one by Lucy Christopher, the author of 2010 Gold Inky winner Stolen, and who will be one of my fellow judges for the 2011 Inky Awards:

 What is happening with the 2011 Inky Awards?

Now: The Centre for Youth Literature staff have just selected the 20 books for the 2011 Inky Awards longlist. The longlist consists of 10 books by Australian writers (for the Gold Inky) and 10 books by non-Australian writers (for the Silver Inky) that fit the award guidelines.

1 September 2011: The shortlist is announced. Five books from each of the Gold and Silver Inky longlists are selected by the judging panel, and they form the shortlist. From the announcement of the shortlist, voting is open to anyone between the ages of 12 and 20. Voting will close on 18 October.

25 October 2011: The Inky Award winners and the winners of the Creative Reading Prize will be announced during a day of activities called “Inkyfest”.

So that’s a background on the Inky Awards. Later, I will talk about the judging panel and their role.