I enjoyed #ABCRN's The Bookshelf conversations at the #SydneyWritersFestival with #GraceChan (her Every Version of You was one of my favourite books of 2022) and #ShehanKarunatilaka (his 2022 Book Prize-winning The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is in my TBR pile). And especially the American poet, novelist and creator of graphic stories, #JasonReynolds' response to host Cassie's question about getting young people into reading (approximately 20 minutes into the episode):

We have to figure out what we're more interested in when it comes to kids. Are we interested in them having relationships with literature? Or are we interested in them having relationships with literacy? For me, it's literacy ... Because literacy is what's going to save their lives. A novel will not if you're coming from certain places that I'm coming from. We can push the ideas about empathy, but everybody in this room knows someone who has read all the books and who is a jerk. So ... I'd like [our children] to read anything, whether it's poetry, magazines, video games manuals, I could care less what they're reading because I need them to understand that through the act of reading, one builds concentration, discipline, consistency, persistence, imagination, a broader vocabulary, and the ability to listen to themselves. Now, if we can do that, then we can get to Shakespeare. 👏👏👏

#books #literature #literacy #kids #children

Link to episode: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-bookshelf/the-bookshelf-swf-shehan-karunatilaka-jason-reynolds-grace-chan/102338758

Last night, I binge-read the final chapters of Every Version of You by #GraceChan (#AffirmPress 2022). #Speculative #fiction set in a not-too-distant future Australia. Would you upload yourself to the #Metaverse 2.0 virtual #Gaia to escape a #climatechange-ravaged world? 🤔 #books