Children’s Laureate visits Wahgunyah

By Adrienne Hartnett

Nov 29, 2022

Australian Children's Laureate Gabrielle Wang with Wahgunyah Primary School captains Jayden French and Stevie Kirk.

Students at Wahgunyah Primary School have been inspired to read, write and create more thanks to a visit from the 2022/23 Australian Children's Laureate Gabrielle Wang.

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The Melbourne-based author and illustrator visited Wahgunyah as part of her laureateship which sees her visiting schools in every Australian state and territory where she speaks about books and reading.

Gabrielle’s stories are a blend of Chinese and Western culture with a touch of fantasy. Her first children’s novel, The Garden of Empress Cassia, won the 2002 Aurealis Award, was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and was a CBCA Notable Book.

Wahgunyah was the final leg of this year’s tour for Gabrielle, where she held a workshop promote the value and importance of reading.

“Rural and regional students often don’t have the same opportunities and resources as city student’s do,” Gabrielle told the Free Press.

“It’s great to be able to visit these smaller schools and encourage children to use their imagination and learn more about diversity.”

Students at Wahgunyah particularly all enjoyed drawing Peng, Gabrielle’s qilin (Chinese dragon).

The beloved author also shared about her very special connection with the town.

“My great grandfather Jimmy Chen Ah Kew settled here in the 1880s. He cleared the lands, most of it for the vineyards with other Chinese labourers,” she said.

“He also owned a general store in Wahgunyah’s Chinatown. My grandfather and his brother attended Wahgunyah primary school.

Gabrielle said she felt honoured when Wahgunyah Primary School Principal Josh Reid changed the school sporting house names a few years ago.

“The school now has the Chen House, named after my great grandfather Jimmy Chen Ah Kew, the McRae House after the incredible Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae, and Foord House after John Foord who founded Wahgunyah,” Gabrielle said.

“I’m sure the school would have to be the most diverse house names in Australia.

“I feel very privileged to have a rich family history in Wahgunyah.”

The Australian Children’s Laureate initiative was established in 2008 and developed by ACLF to ‘promote the transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians’.