2008 International Writers' Celebration – "Word Windows on Our World"

8 – 18 September

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In this United Nation's "International Year of Languages" and the 25^th Anniversary of CPAW, it is our pleasure to invite you to join us in this knowledge society project, "Word Windows on Our World", where you can contribute to and benefit from the outcomes. The project is open to students from ages 8 to 18 under the supervision of their teachers.

A "Word Window" allows us to view unique qualities of a culture, from the distinctive words, phrases and idioms used by that culture. While English tends to be the world lingua franca, in this day and age, the language does not always allow for an exact translation of the pure meaning of words from other languages. Thus many words and phrases only have real meaning in the language from which they originate. The fact that much is lost in translation has been realized for centuries.

The aim of this project is to highlight the special words, phrases and idioms, used by writers, which are unique to various cultures in the world and to reflect upon what these can tell us about the cultures.

We encourage you to invite local/national writers to your place of learning as well as contacting writers online, during this year's "International Writers' Celebration", to talk about how they promote the unique qualities of culture through their writing. This will provide opportunities for sharing such information with fellow students in a variety of countries.

The outcomes of this project will be showcased on a special website we are creating. If you choose to participate, you will be advised of the URL, to view the outcomes.

If you would like to be involved, please email the Coordinator well before the starting date, for further information

IWW@mail.queanbeyan-h.schools.nsw.edu.au