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Jennifer Byrne Presents: Anything's possible

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Jennifer Byrne
Jennifer Byrne Presents: Anything's possible

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  9–10


What are writers of Young Adult (or YA) fiction seeking to achieve?

What obligations do they have to their audience, if any?

In this clip, listen as four successful authors share their ideas on these things.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Think about the last young adult novel you read. What life lessons did it contain for you?
  2. 2.In what way can stories be 'wonderfully subversive'? Why does Morris Gleitzman say he is not trying to 'pass on good messages or morals'? What is he trying to do instead? Do the other writers agree with him? In exploring the darker side of human experience, what positive messages do the panellists say their protagonists offer their readers?
  3. 3.Imagine phoning in to this panel discussion. Offer your opinion on whether writers of YA fiction have any obligation to help their readers deal with personal and social issues. Do you think writers for adults come under the same scrutiny as writers for the YA audience? Should writers for young adults bear a greater responsibility towards their audience than writers for adults? Explain your thoughts.
  4. 4.When submitting a manuscript for possible publication, writers usually have to include a precis or synopsis (a summary of their novel that outlines its key characters, plot and themes). Write a synopsis for a potential YA novel of your own that has deals with something you think is important for its audience to know.



Production Date: 16 Oct 2012


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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