VIVIANE GERARDU AWARD 2023
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Viviane Gerardu Writing Encouragement Award
The Viviane Gerardu Writing Encouragement Award commemorates Viviane Gerardu, a member of the ACTATE community who passed away in 2020. The award honours her contribution to the teaching of English in the ACT and her championing of young writers.
2023 Viviane Gerardu Award Winner
Zombies by Rose Thompson, Lanyon High School
This story is an example of an author being prepared to take risks to experiment with allegory, metaphor and inference, to express a theme that is important to them: the impact of iPhones on a generation of young people.
The descriptions of the zombies, representing the iPhone users, are made visceral through vivid imagery, repetition and rich vocabulary. A minor theme of sibling tensions is employed to bring the major theme, the mindless effects of technology, into sharp relief. Historical dates, relevant to technology launches, are woven into the narrative, showing a sophisticated understanding of inference.
With this approach, the author demonstrates the courage required to take risks in writing, which is what makes ‘Zombies’ the perfect recipient for the 2023 Viviane Gerardu Writing Encouragement Award.
Remembering Viviane
Viviane Gerardu was an inspirational teacher who made a difference in the lives of her students and her colleagues.
Viviane presented regularly at ACTATE professional learning events and at national conferences. Teachers always left her workshops with practical strategies and interesting resources to use with their students. She developed the Language for Understanding Across the Curriculum (LUAC) resources and presented workshops to ACT teachers from all learning areas. She has also been published widely through books such as the English Quest series and articles in ACTATE’s journal, Activate.
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