Bec Kavanagh, Festival Director
Bec Kavanagh has been working in the book industry for almost a decade. She has managed an independent bookshop, worked as an account manager for The Little Bookroom (the world’s oldest children’s bookshop) and a booking agent for Booked Out Speakers Agency.
During her time in the industry, Bec noticed a need for the kind of forum that would allow authors to connect more directly with their audiences. She started A Thousand Words in 2009 to create a forum that encouraged a more immediate dialogue between the book industry and young readers. Bec developed the project with The Little Bookroom and several other industry professionals and has been responsible for the overseeing of the inaugural event in 2009, the creation of the online profile and the development of the 2011 event.
Bec is a freelance writer and speaks as a curriculum specialist for Booked Out Speakers Agency. She writes teachers notes and articles for several Australian publishing houses and reviews young adult and junior fiction for youth literary magazines Bookseller and Publisher & Viewpoint: On Books for Young Adults.
After the success of A Thousand Words Festival in 2009, Bec was invited to speak at the 2010 Melbourne Writers festival as part of the schools program, and on several panels for the 68th World Science Fiction Convention (AussieCon4) speaking on issues such as the rise of social networking in speculative fiction and the state of the young adult fiction industry.
She has strong relationships with many authors, schools and publishers and is committed to developing a place for A Thousand Words Festival in Melbourne’s vibrant literary scene.
Bec’s links:
Type Book Negative
Booked Out Speakers Agency
Elvira Ralston
Elvira has worked as bookseller for fifteen years. During this time she has focused on books for children and young people. Elvira has worked at The Little Bookroom for the past three years and is lucky enough to run Storytime sessions every Saturday morning.
Elvira is also currently studying to become a primary school teacher. Her other main interest is theatre and she has worked at the Victorian Arts Centre for seven years.
For Elvira, seeing people being moved by performance and storytelling is a truly thrilling experience.
Elvira’s favourite storyteller is Mem Fox. Possum Magic has been her most loved story since the first time she heard it and was transported at Storytime as a four year old.
Lucy Mackay-Sim
Lucy got hooked on reading in fifth grade when her teacher, sensing her boredom with the classroom books, lent her a copy of Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea Quartet from her personal library. Post-Earthsea, Lucy came to love children’s books so much that she never gave them up like some adults do. She decided (after a bit of pondering) that children’s books were her destiny.
Lucy has worked as a bookseller since she was fifteen, in a range of different shops, not all in Australia. She is currently the children’s book buyer at Melbourne’s oldest bookshop, The Hill of Content Bookshop.
Throughout her association with books, Lucy has remembered that fifth grade teacher with deep gratitude, and she believes very strongly that teachers have the power to connect all children, however reluctant, to stories – in book form or otherwise – that speak to them and take them beyond their own experiences and circumstances. It is because of this that she feels so passionate about the vision of the A Thousand Words Festival.
Lucy helped out at the inaugural A Thousand Words Festival in 2009 and was blown away by how successful and inspiring it was. She is super excited and delighted to be invited to take on a bigger role this year.
HJ Harper
HJ isn’t sure if books are stalking her, or if she’s stalking books. Either way, she’s had various jobs in bookstores, libraries, and now as an author. Her debut book series, Star League, will be published by Random House Australia in 2011.
The rest of the time she’s a specialist children’s bookseller for one of Melbourne’s best independent bookshops, as well as running Spine Chills, a blog for YA and kids’ horror.
Holly’s links: Spine Chills
Emily Royal
Emily spent two-and-a-half years working at Booked Out Speakers Agency, working in a multi-faceted role and reaching nearly every corner of the business. In addition to office admin she coordinated bookings, planned events, designed marketing material and managed web content.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Film Studies and is currently in her final year of a Master of Publishing and Communications. She loves words, pictures and stories. She is thrilled to be part of A Thousand Words 2011.
