Ostrich Boys and Creatures of the Night

Kate Thompson and Keith Gray were fascinating on Monday evening in the National Library. There was a couple of key issues that stood out for me….

What is this notion of young adult fiction or writing for teenagers? I think both writers felt that books about teenagers and books for teenagers where distinguished from each other by intent – whether the author was writing reflectively around the teenage years in the former or writing about the teenage experience in the latter – it was a point I would have liked to talk more about – in fact I could have talked about it all evening…..

The other element that struck me was the differences between Kate and Keith in their writing style, their focus and their outlooks. Really interesting stuff.

On a final note – was delighted Keith supplied a collective noun for interesting ideas and pertinent points – apparently henceforth it will be called a “Dunbar” in honour of Robert Dunbar our fantastic chair for the evening.