19 September 2019
Achieve Australia has released an exclusive collection of short stories written and illustrated by people with disabilities called, Seven Inspired Tales: A Collection of Short Stories.
The book is the result of the Positive Partners Program run with corporate volunteers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The program builds on the literacy skills of people with disability.
“We are thrilled to see the people we support have the opportunity to showcase their individual talents and creativity with the release of Seven Inspired Tales today,” said Achieve Australia’s CEO, Jo-Anne Hewitt.
“Each story is unique and explores a diverse range of characters and themes, from friendship and what it means to be different to a zombie-inspired tale,” Ms Hewitt said.
Positive Partners Program
The program ran in 2 phases. The first phase began in 2018 when corporate volunteers from PwC were matched with a participant from Achieve Australia whose skills, hobbies and interests matched their own. This helped to establish a connection and form a working relationship over the course of the literacy program.
Commencing in February 2019, the second phase of the program focused on developing creative writing and storytelling skills. Seven participants worked closely with their partners to develop memorable characters and plots and to edit the final stories ready for publication.
“I enjoyed writing about zombies and working with the friendly people that helped out,” said program participant and author of The Horror School Girl, Vivian Fung.
For corporate volunteers, the experience has also been enjoyable. “Every PwC volunteer that has had the opportunity to get involved with the Positive Partners Program has been touched deeply by the experience,” explained Senior Accountant at PwC, Deanna Blanchette.
“On behalf of all the PwC volunteers, we are thankful for the opportunity to get to know the inspiring participants as we guided them through this literacy journey. We are so proud of our role in this book and cannot wait to get our hands on a copy!” said Ms Blanchette.
Seven Inspired Tales: A Collection of Short Stories will be available for the community to download as a free eBook