AJ Betts is an award-winning young-adult author, speaker, teacher, and columnist. She has over twenty years of English teaching experience, and holds a PhD on the topic of Wonder. She frequently speak at schools, libraries and festivals. Her most popular talks are described below. She holds a current Working with Children Check and speaker’s public liability insurance.

MEET THE AUTHOR PRESENTATION

This 45-60 minute presentation explores the life of a writer, the nature of creativity, and how I turn small ideas into stories. This presentation is suitable for students in Years 7 to 12. It is especially relevant for groups studying creative writing and storytelling.

ONE SONG PRESENTATION

This 45-60 minute presentation focuses on my latest novel about a teenage band trying to record a song to enter into Triple J Unearthed High. Along with backstory, research, characterisation, and cover development, I talk about the big themes in the book, particularly creativity, ambition, mental health, and the pressure of Year 12.

HIVE PRESENTATION (WITH ‘STEM’ AND/OR DYSTOPIA FOCUS)

This 45-60 minute presentation begins with the genesis of HIVE and ROGUE (the dystopian duology), before outlining the challenges of world-building in speculative fiction. I share how I used problem-solving, research and creativity to build a plausible city structure and credible society. For schools interested in the crossover of creativity and science, I focus on how science, technology and engineering influenced the narrative and symbolism. For schools interested in the nature of dystopia, I focus on the dystopian elements in the fictional society, and how the novel both embraces and challenges these. A HIVE presentation is suitable for students in Years 8 to 12.

ZAC & MIA PRESENTATION

This 45-60 minute presentation explores how real life can influence fiction. I explain the backstory and introduce the characters, conflict and themes. International book covers are shared for comparison, with a discussion of symbolism, themes and marketing. Finally, I share how the novel was adapted into a Hollywood television series, noting changes to structure, setting and characterisation. This presentation is suitable for students in Years 8 to 12. It is especially relevant for groups studying real-life themes, realism, visual analysis and book-to-screen adaptations.

WRITING WORKSHOP

These workshops can range from one hour to a full day. In these practical sessions, I employ fun and accessible activities which emphasise the idea of ‘play’. Using visual stimuli and questions, I lead students through various writing exercises. Students are encouraged to write reflexively, with honesty, courage and empathy. During these workshops, I explain how similar exercises contributed to the development of my novels.

WORKSHOP FOR YEARS 11-12 STUDENTS WRITING COMPOSING RESPONSES IN ATAR EXAMS

In this workshop (which can be anywhere from 1-3 hours long, depending on the practical component), I provide practical strategies for senior English students tackling the composing section in exams. The approach is less about ‘creative writing’ and more about ‘problem-solving’ as we explore different ways of interrogating visual and textual stimuli through questions. I break down the elements of narratives and demonstrate how to manipulate the ‘tools’ of writing to create an original piece. Students will experiment with ways of diving into story, and learn how to develop voice, mood, character motivation, tension and language.

I have also presented on the following:

• Creativity and vulnerability
• Writing workshop for adults (including those interested in writing for teenagers)
• WAVELENGTH talk
• SHUTTERSPEED talk.