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the dream factory - Dr Catherine Keenan

WHO

February 06, 2023

ONE WOMAN SHOWS HOW WORDS ARE KEY TO UNLOCKING A CHILD'S POTENTIAL

Feeling inspired by a children’s writing centre in San Francisco called 826 Valencia, Sydneysider Dr Cath Keenan and her good friend Tim Dick felt they could get a similar idea up and running in

Redfern. And so, in 2012, the Story Factory was born – a place where Cath says young people from ages 7 to 17 “could come and really explore creative writing, [and] also be around other kids who find that exciting”. She tells WHO, “I would have loved that when I was a kid.”

The 52-year-old former newspaper journalist and arts writer says there are few places that a young person can go to write outside of school and, most of the time, it costs money to practice the art. As a lover of words herself, Cath explains the primary goal of the Story Factory is to help children

develop their writing skills, which in turn “helps young people to engage with their education and get the most out of life”.

But the program, which sees the Story Factory team visit students at school during English class once a week for one term too, is also about helping young people realise “their voice matters and people want to listen to them”.