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Creative minds collaborate on book
A Maleny illustrator collaborating with University of the Sunshine Coast academic Gary Crew on a book for young adults described the process to an eager audience at the Brisbane Writers Festival on the weekend.
Aaron Hill recently moved to the Sunshine Coast hinterland to study a Doctorate of Creative Arts at USC with Associate Professor Crew, the University’s Head of Creative Writing and author of more than 70 books.
The book, Damon, will be published by Hachette and is at the first draft stage. It is about a disillusioned youth discovering his imagination.
Mr Hill, 34, said his images aimed to add another narrative dimension to the text, while still leaving a gap for readers’ own interpretations of the story.
It is his second published book with Gary Crew. He was shortlisted for the esteemed Crichton Award for the first, called Automaton.
Mr Hill, formerly of Toowoomba, is tutoring while studying at USC.
He was among a group of USC students and staff who had the opportunity to mix with writers, readers and the movers and shakers of the publishing industry.
“I enjoyed our session at the festival,” he said. “The audience questions were interesting too, from technical issues about copyright to the importance of a cover image as a marketing tool and framing device.”
Associate Professor Crew said illustrated books for adults were increasingly popular and differed greatly from comic books.
The University is meeting demand with its popular Creative Writing for the Illustrated Book course running this semester.
Creative Writing Lecturer Ross Watkins joined the USC panel and USC English Lecturer Clare Archer-Lean chaired a session on Memoir for Indigenous authors.
Three USC students also presented their own work in front of festival-goers at the State Library of Queensland.
– Julie Gatehouse