Messages

Hello, Daniel and Kahla,

I hope this e-mail finds you both well and having fun with your 2007 project! It sounds like a wonderful global connection.

I have forwarded your letter to our English Department Chair to see if our Upper School students (high school equivalent of grades 9-12, ages 14-18) would be interested in participating even if it's a bit late. So you are aware, we aren't back in session yet...we're still on our summer break until the beginning of September.

Good luck. I finally established a pen pal connection in our Lower School with a school north of Sydney this year through CPAW and Dr Beazley (whom I met on my Fulbright trip to Australia in 2005).

Cheers!
Dayna Drake,
Music Teacher @ Chase Collegiate School, Waterbury, CT, USA

Enjoy yourselves writing and creating imaginative experiences that will expand your mind and spirit. That’s the way to learn: to appreciate life through literature in its many magical forms of prose and poetry. Let me know if I can help you with your “Poetic Culturescapes”.

Congratulations to all at Queanbeyan High on being chosen again as
co-ordinators. It is a task at which you have always excelled.

I wish all those participating a most enjoyable and stimulating time in the
search for definition, expression and exploration of "Poetic
Culturescapes" - a wonderfully interesting and challenging theme. My
interest is certainly piqued!I am happy to participate on-line.

Again, best wishes to all,

Rose Peterson

My name is Ronda, and I was born in Alice springs Central Australia in 1945. As a five year old I was placed in care at the St Mary's Home for outback children. I then attended the Primary School in Alice Springs and here I am back at the Anzac Hill High School where I attended between 1958 and 1960. So it feels lovely to be back.

I always made up little dittys over the years. Then after I had children i used to write poems and hide them in my handbag from my family. One day my husband was looking for the car keys in my hand bag, as they do, and he discovered my poems. I was aghast.

Anyway, the years went by and finally I decided to take early retirement from my employment. I enrolled at a "Creative Writing" Course at the Batchelor College in Alice Springs. It is a college that caters to Indigenous people. And they come from far and wide. It was a wonderful experience and quite sad when it ended, all too soon.

I felt at the time that I just wanted write forever but other things in my life got in the way and I only wrote a piece now and again. I didn't bring any of my work with me, but will be happy to share with you sometime soon.

I have read my poetry at several gatherings but mostly put my feelings into poetr just for myself and they can be happy, sad, about my children (I have four grown-ups and 13 grand children and a great grand daughter) and about my country.

I hope that this time of sharing will be a wonderful and enjoyable experience for you all.

Dear Friends at IWW,

Congratulations on another year for a focus on young authors around
the world! I have been privileged to be a part of this for several
years, and it has always been a good experience for me.

If your young writers would like to communicate with me, please have
them email me at the address above. Also, please check out http://www.gloriahouston.net and
http://www.homeoftheperfectchristmastree.org to learn more about me
and my writing.

With love to all my reading and writing friends, Down Under,

Gloria Houston

Greetings to you all from London. Unfortunately, our students are all
on their summer holidays at this time, so I cannot ask them to send
any writing. However, I hope your event goes well!

An organisation in the UK called NASEN (Helping everyone achieve)
www.nasen.org.uk has just published an anthology of poetry on the
theme of inclusion (Nasen (2007) Even though. London: Rising Stars
UK. 9781846801327).

Dear friends at IWW,

I am very honored by your thoughtfulness in letting me know about this group. However, since we were caught right in the middle of one of our mid-term test periods we were not able to answer as quickly as we would have wished. Anyway, congratulations for this initiative oriented towards inspiring young authors around the world.

My kindest regards,

Vanessa Marinho

Colégio Pedro II – Humaitá II

Thank you for your email. Sincerely, the sentiments expressed therein touched me immensely. It was a pleasure to be with you guys and celebrate International Writers’ Week and share your enthusiasm. It will always be my pleasure to be with you again.

You guys have loads of talent that you could develop even further. It’s nice to see you so well focused.

Justin, I feel quite honored when you tell me that you are compiling a Poetry Anthology, about me or with me included. I am waiting to read the poems.

Thank you for sending me the sonnet titled, “Top Gear.” No. I haven’t seen the program. But I enjoyed reading it. It has all the good elements of poetry, with the stresses and the rhymes. Gee! You guys are such a talented lot. Keep it up.