SLANZA 2020 Conference Keynote announcement

Kia ora koutou school librarians and lovers of school libraries
We are very excited to be able to tell you about two of our keynotes for the SLANZA 2020 Conference:

Scot Gardner

Especially for secondary school librarians, I know that being able to listen to and meet Scot Gardner will be a highlight of this conference. This wonderful Australian author writes moving and heartfelt books for teenagers (and the rest of us) - if you haven’t read one of his books yet, do it now and join his fan club. If you need recommendations for your reluctant but ‘perfectly capable of reading’ boys, give them one of Scot’s books.

 Scot will be doing a workshop, as well as presenting a keynote, so make sure you register and are ready to choose your workshops early, as they will fill up quickly.
Scot has been writing for young people since last century. His books are mostly about misfits making peace with the world, death and love. He came to writing down a long winding path of careers including landscape gardening, massage and counselling, professional music, teaching, waiting tables and driving delivery trucks. Changing Gear is his eighteenth novel in as many years and his backlist includes award-winning and internationally acclaimed books such as Burning Eddy, The Dead I Know and Sparrow. He has a bristling fascination for the natural world.

​Toby Morris

Toby Morris can do it all - write, illustrate, create wonderful instantly recognisable graphic novels and cartoons, and all with an intelligent clarity and compassion that is enormously impressive. The graphic novel Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Te Reo and English (which he collaborated on) is a must have for every school library, if not every school classroom also. And if your students are ever studying social issues, they need to delve into Toby’s non-fiction comic 

series The Side Eye  to be challenged to think more deeply, while being entertained.
Toby Morris has published two children’s books and is a regular contributor to the School Journal. Watch his series Two Sketches to get to know him better and learn about other New Zealand cartoonists and artists