The Writer's Festival

I have always dreamed of meeting Kenneth Oppel and get his autograph, and my dream finally came true when we went to the Writer's Festival on Granville Island today. Our whole Synergy 8 class went there, on a field trip led by Mrs. Greskiw. Before the show started, we had had half an hour to roam around and discover the island. The show started at 10:00, which features Kenneth Oppel and an Australian writer whose name is Richard Newsome, the author of a popular book called The Billionaire's Curse. The first person who came up on the stage was Mr. Newsome, and he briefly introduced himself and his life in Australia. He created this really funny slide show about his childhood and books, then he read us the beginning of The Billionaire's Curse, so that we could get interested. Then he talked about the plot of the book, and then Q and A. Kenneth Oppel got on the stage after and introduced his latest book------ Half Brother. It was a really interesting book about a teenage boy whose brother is a baby chimpanzee. His presentation was really educational, and humorous as well. At the end of his presentation, we gave him a big round of applause and it was time to get his and Mr. Newsome's autographs. I got them to sign my tickets. After lunch break we had another show featuring Shannon McKay, another famous Canadian writer. She is a war artist and she wrote many books about children in war. What's really amazing is that she actually stayed with the Canadian Military in Afghanistan last year and experienced what it feels like to be in a war. Her presentation was really interesting, and I got her autograph at the end also. Today it had been a fantastic day, and I have definitely learned lots of new things