Hello
everyone! We know the title gives it away but ALICE PUNG VISITED OUR SCHOOL TODAY!
It’s because Year 10s have the set text Unpolished Gem. Our class didn’t
study it but we still managed to see Alice Pung talk (We thank the teachers
who organised it!) We would love to say now “I have a signature from an awesome
author” but sadly, we didn’t buy any of her books in time because we learnt of
it last minute :(:(:(
Anyway,
Alice Pung is a great speaker. It did start off a bit rocky as her
cute-as-a-button son - Leo- demanded unwavering attention (he wouldn’t eat his
blueberries) but afterwards when Alice Pung started, she was AMAZING!
We
think this is because of what she spoke resonated with us. We are familiar with
what being a second generation immigrant meant, what it was like to grow up in
the Western suburbs (which many people believe is a place of poverty and drugs
and gangs but no! It is not like that!) Alice Pung also spoke about her family,
and how they shaped her writing. Her father survived the “Killing Fields”, and
it was heartbreaking to hear about how, as a child, the most delicious meal he
ever had was an animal-skin belt that was boiled for days and days in the
middle of the night to avoid capture and execution. There were so many
empowering tales because Pung recounted that despite all the heartbreaks, and
sorrows, and suffering her father endured, he still maintained hope, “loved us
[Pung’s family] to the best of his ability” and retained a sense of humour!
Pung
is a witty, honest and genuine speaker. She genuinely cares about and listens
to the voice of her readers. Afterwards, once she finished her speech, she
wasn’t obliged to stay back for long, but she stayed back for quite a while to
have a chat with students AND sign books. Pung really affirms that authors
aren’t really the mysterious and scary people some readers make them out to be,
but that they are real, living, breathing people who are absolutely lovely to
talk to!
If we must say so ourselves, it was quite amusing how, a couple of
time during her speech, Pung forgot to maintain the pseudonym for Michael
(You’ll remember him from Unpolished Gem) and accidentally let loose his
real name. For privacy reasons, we shall not repeat his real name here.
That’s
it for now, and hopefully, we’ll be able to review Unpolished Gem soon.
Thank you to Alice Pung for delivering such an amazing talk!
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