Last Friday we had the fifth annual author visit put on by the Library and the School of Education. We were very privileged to have Shaun Tan this year. Shaun’s books and their wonderful stories and images will be known to many. His work has included books like The Lost Thing, The Red Tree and The Arrival. He is also the recipient of many awards, including Children’s Book Council of Australia awards, various premiers literary awards and so on.
Shaun’s book The Arrival traces without words, but through vivid images, a story of immigration and refuge to a land familiar enough to be recognisable but which is also strange and unnerving. It is a remarkable achievement that has us as readers follow the main character in sifting through the signs and wonders to find understanding and connection.
His latest work Tales from Outer Suburbia continues that vein of his work that makes the familiar seem decidedly odd, the common sensical seem deeply mysterious. Like the best and most original works Shaun’s work is hard to categorise and pigeon hole and speaks to people of all ages. You suspect that it connects profoundly to the child’s point of view but also reminds us older folk to think and above all to “see” anew.
Shaun spoke for about an hour, showing and speaking to some of the images within his work. It was clear to everyone that these images were anything but mere decoration; they evoked meaning and associations that added new layers and texture to stories and narratives. Shaun took questions from an engrossed audience and then signed books and chatted, drawing individual pictures in the front of books. We had about 140 people in attendance (a record), including RMIT staff and students, teachers, librarians and members of the public.
See also this other impression of the event.
March 31, 2009 at 12:45 pm |
[...] very pleasing to see Sean Tan listed, who was our invited speaker at list year’s author talk. We will be ordering items on the shortlist not held [...]