Neil can provide workshops, conduct talks and lead lively discussions on the topics of writing, reading and books. He has a suitcase full of writing memorabilia and strange objects to inspire young people to ink up their pages. He has a head full of ideas and a passion for words (especially flummery, origami, wowzer and onomatopoeia).

Neil has conducted residencies, workshops and talks at many schools including St Leonard’s College, Diamond Valley College, Lakeside Secondary College, Brimbank College and Methodist Ladies’ College. He has given talks at Distance Education Victoria and Eltham North Primary. He has judged the Picture Story Book Competition at St Leonard’s College for three years running and the Poetry competition for two. Most recently, he was a mentor for the Wakakirri National Story Festival 2007.

Neil can visit for a day, a week or longer and tailor his workshops or talks to your needs. During a longer residency, he can create an anthology of your students’ work. He will bring along a swag of writing exercises (opportunities!) to get the students writing and discussing their work. He can speak about his experiences as a writer and let the students know why he considers words to be so important. He can talk about his research trip to Indonesia and show how the things he experienced were worked into his novel Indo Dreaming. Maybe he'll even speak about his wild family and get kids writing about theirs.

If you are interested in Neil's Afghanistan Trip 2009 please check here

If you would like to get Neil to visit your school, please contact him via the contact section of this website or through the Show and Tell speaker's agency : http://www.showtell.com.au/   


The author at work Gunung Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia.