We were so excited to have Sara Bennett, the General Manager of Fighting Words, and Sean Farrelly, the 100 Years Project Coordinator, to join us online for this event on October 4th. During this meeting, Sara shared her invaluable experience stimulating children and young people to write and draw. At the same time, Sean introduced the 100 Years Project, which has been inviting children in Ireland to share stories and ideas relating to their own diverse histories and cultural traditions. Sara and Sean conducted a mini workshop where they introduced the story framework and had the students practice co-writing a short story in English. It was a lot of fun observing the creative process of crafting a story and seeing the birth of these imaginative tales. This virtual reunion culminated in an impactful intercultural exchange that genuinely connected the human gift of imagination and the aesthetic pleasure of storytelling.

This year students who take the Picturebook Translation and Editing course will be translating and illustrating the children’s stories from the 100 Years Project. Together with our creative words and drawings, we are ready to celebrate the imagination and the cultural richness of the tales from Fighting Words.