The Holiday Break Program

Even before the doors opened, we were thrilled to have our first creative event at Big Sky Stories in July. Thanks to the Office for Regional Youth and Create NSW, we were able to partner with WestWords for The Holiday Break Program. We welcomed speculative fiction writer, Ben Peek and artist, designer and visual creator, Claudia Chinyere Akole, to Broken Hill for 3 days of workshops.

Younger participants gathered at Big Sky Stories for the ‘Emerging Writers and Illustrators’ group whilst the older participants met at Headspace for the ‘World-building’ group. All participants worked each day with Ben and Claudia to plan, develop and create a zine (a mini magazine). Some worked collaboratively, whilst others focused on creating an independent piece.

Each group spent some time in Sturt Park, where they used various painting techniques focused on shades of colour, found interesting objects and paid close attention to our environment. The World-building group drew on their collective experience of playing Dungeons & Dragons to focus on developing worlds and characters unlike anything else. This group has continued to gather online during the term to work with another writer to develop a more specific Dungeons & Dragons skill set.

Ben and Claudia enjoyed both their first ever visit to Broken Hill and working with the participants to develop their creative writing skills and explore visual art techniques to capture a character or scene.

At the end of the 3 days, participants from both groups shared their finished pieces with each other and were excited to take home what they had made to share with family and friends.

‘The Holiday Break’ program is an ongoing partnership. Until April 2023 young people in Broken Hill will have the opportunity to work with other published writers and creatives. In September we look forward to welcoming Catherine Jinks and Alex Eldridge to our community to share their writing skills with more young writers.