19 August 2022
Write a Book in a Day is a national activity which raises money for the Kids’ Cancer Project. The competition began in 2002 as a partnership between Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, growing each year since then. In 2021 $537,000 was raised for childhood cancer research. Teams of up to ten students from schools across Australia have just twelve hours to write and illustrate a book from start to finish. To make it even more fun, unique parameters must be included in the story.
This year, two teams from SPSC entered the competition for the first time, working on their books in the Miller Library on Tuesday August 16. The Nines (Anirvan Iyengar, Pardhiv Meruga, Kieran Bonython, Mason Webster, Ethan Howes and Andrew Xu) read their parameters at the start of the day and found they had to include a delivery driver, a café setting and the Easter Bunny, while the Pentreath Boys (Lachlan Brown, Hugh Harper, Oliver Maung, Devansh Singhal, Andrew Hattingh, Hugo Michell, Jackson Cleanthous and William Roger) were faced with a road worker, a paramedic, a chemistry lab and a unicorn!
The day produced two books: Easter Gone Wrong by the Nines and Lab Under Pannowonica by the Pentreath Boys, and raised over $2500 for childhood cancer research and treatment. The teams were supported throughout the day with advice, encouragement and snacks from Ms Hicks and the Miller Library staff.
Nicholas Browne
Head of Faculty