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Honour for USC’s Creative Writing guru
Award-winning children’s author and University of the Sunshine Coast academic Dr Gary Crew has signed up for a campaign to help make Australia a nation of readers.
The Associate Professor of Creative Writing recently accepted an invitation from the State Library of Queensland to be one of six Queensland Ambassadors during the National Year of Reading in 2012.
In the year ahead, libraries across Australia will partner with various organisations and well-known individuals like Dr Crew to promote reading through a series of inspirational programs and events.
Dr Crew said the National Year of Reading aimed to make all Australians understand the benefits of reading as a life skill and a catalyst for well-being.
He said it would also promote a reading culture throughout Australian homes and encourage adults to share books with their children.
Dr Crew’s responsibilities as a Queensland Ambassador will include doing media interviews and speaking with schools, clubs and other groups about reading.
One week of the year will be designated as Dr Crew’s week, during which his achievements as an author and as a Creative Writing academic will be highlighted.
“This is recognition for a long, long life of working in the field and that makes me feel pretty good,” he said.
“I think it’s really nice for me to be out there, in my 60s, with people who are still creating.”
Dr Crew said a key message of the National Year of Reading would be that all forms of reading – including comics, magazines, romance books, e-books, poetry, newspapers and song lyrics – were important.
“The year will be all about helping people discover and rediscover the magic of books,” he said. “And, most of all, it’s about Australia becoming a nation of readers.”
— Terry Walsh