Book Week Dinner 2018

Pirates and treasure were the themes of the 2018 Book Week dinner at the Hackney Hotel on Friday, August 10th. The fun started at 6:00 pm when all the guests were greeted by our two visiting pirates,Cap'n Adele Fancypants and Jelly Legs Doug, who gave everyone their pirate name.
      Anne Cameron and Lydia de l'Amour were representing Scholastic Australia, our sponsors for the night. Guests were all presented with a complimentary book and the first 10 people to book were given a copy of "I'm an Australian Too". Anne spoke about the wonderful programs run by Scholastic that encourages reading and literacy throughout the nation.
     A "Kahoots" quiz was one of the first events, with guests trying to answer the pirate quiz.
     Mem Fox was our special guest for the night and she spoke about her treasures, the many illustrators who have worked on her books. It was a wonderful insight into the long term relationships that have occurred through each picture book. Mem was awarded the inaugural "Honorary Membership" to CBCSA. This will be a feature of all our Book Week dinners from now on.
      Our other 3 shortlisted authors, Phil Cummings, Vikki Wakefied and Charlie Archbold were also our special guests for the night. Lucky attendees were able to purchase books from Caitlin of Dillon's Books of Norwood on the night and have them signed.
     The 120 guests were invited to create a pirate hat with accessories (and a backstory) for one of their lucky table members. Bags of "making" materials were delivered to each table and the imaginations were highly active as many creative and bizarre pirates were born that night. The 2 winners were able to each share a treasure chest of goodies with their table.
    The Hackney Hotel provided delicious food and even created 3 unique pirate themed cocktails for the night.
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A great time was had by all and we wished our 4 shortlisted authors all the best for the August 17th announcements of "Book of the Year".