 
|  Tristan Bancks is an Australian Children's and Middle-Grade author with a background as an actor, TV presenter and filmmaker in Australia and the UK. Tristan uses his experience in these visual and aural mediums to make his sessions action-packed, informational and inspiring for years K-12 as well as for educators. He has presented at all of the major writers’ festivals and has lots of schools experience.
Author Website: www.tristanbancks.com
Youtube Video Intro: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZrLh0tcnoU
TV Presenting Reel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uecxteV58NQ
Tristan’s Books:
Galactic Adventures: First Kids in Space (July 2011)
Dash Campbell has only ever had one dream. To go to space. But does he have what it takes to survive Space School? A gripping and inspiring space adventure for ages 9+. www.firstkidsinspace.com
My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up (2011)
Have you ever been kissed by a dog? Ever had to eat Vegemite off your sister's big toe? Has a bloodthirsty magpie ever been out to get you? Have you woken up to discover that everything hovers? And have you eaten 67 hot dogs in ten minutes?
Tom Weekly has. A rollicking book of short stories for ages 7+
Mac Slater, Coolhunter 1: The Rules of Cool & Mac Slater 2: I Love NY (2008/09)
The Mac Slater books (Random House) are a rapid-fire read for grades 4 to 8, full of wild inventions, fast-paced action, and technology that kids can relate to. Extensive teachers’ notes at www.tristanbancks.com.
Nit Boy 1: Liftoff and Nit Boy 2: Bugout (May 2009)
The Nit Boy series is for primary school aged children and it deals with the perennial problem of nits in a fast, funny and slightly disgusting way, with fantastic illustrations. These will grab even the most reluctant reader (www.nitboy.com).
it’s yr life (June 2009)
YA novel for ages 14+. Co-written with Tempany Deckert, Tristan’s co-star on Home and Away as a teenager. They re-teamed to write this suspenseful novel via email between his home in Byron Bay and Tempany’s in L.A.
Talk and Workshop Ideas
For the latest flyer outlining Tristan’s talks and workshops, click here
Talks
1) Writer Talk
A talk on writing and reading where Tristan shares how he finds inspiration, how a book is made and what it’s like to be a writer, using specific examples from his latest books and his life. Tristan uses images, video, music and the web to bring these teachings to life in a highly engaging way.
2) My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up
Have you ever been kissed by a dog? Ever had to eat Vegemite off your sister’s big toe? Has a bloodthirsty magpie been out to get you? And have you eaten 67 hot dogs in ten minutes? Author Tristan Bancks has (sort of). He has written a brand new short story collection, My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up. Hear a reading, watch the trailer, see the illustrations and help create a weird, funny, gross short story for his next book.
3) Galactic Adventures: First Kids in Space
Jumping nits, flying bikes and kids in space. Tristan Bancks loves to fly. This full-throttle session includes a reading, videos, a quiz, interactive story-telling and fascinating facts on civilian space travel.
4) Change the World in Five Minutes
Based on Tristan's film, Change the World in 5 Minutes Every Day at School (www.youtube.com/tristanbancks), made for SBS television. This session is a hothouse for world-changing ideas with lots of fun video, brainstorming and live chat to inspire the next generation of world-changers. Teacher’s notes on ‘Books’ page at www.tristanbancks.com
5) Zak the Yak With Books on His Back
Tristan is an author-ambassador for Room to Read, a charity building school libraries and focussing on gender equality in developing countries. The picture book Zak the Yak with Books on His Back tells the story of founder John Wood’s journey to a school in Nepal with a book-laden yak. This session includes a reading, colouring-in and a message told in a super-fun way. Perfect for Kindergarten to year two students.
Workshops
1) Young Writers' Boot Camp
Fun multi-day workshop filled with creative action. Use magazines, clay, illustration, the web, images and music to inspire fresh story ideas. Discover easy rewriting tricks. Use digital storytelling and video to bring stories to life.
2) Vision Boarding (Talk or Workshop)
From soundtracks to storyboarding, movie trailers to animations, for children’s author Tristan Bancks, writing a book is a totally 3-Dimensional experience. Come and see his amazing Vision Board, which helps him create his books. Learn techniques on how you can fuse TV, the web, video and old-fashioned books to write your own brilliant stories.
In the workshop version, students will use Tristan’s new Story Scrapbook storytelling app, to be launched in 2012, to develop their own stories.
3) Character Building
All great stories have great characters. But how do writers create their characters? Do they just magic them onto the page or do they build the characters? And if they build them, how do they do it? Participants use memory, performance, illustration, people-watching, storyboarding, image-gathering, collaboration and the written word to create memorable, multi-layered characters to inspire a short story. Students will go home with a slate of new characters, a short story and a deeper understanding of how character is story and vice versa.
Skype Visits
All of Tristan’s talks can be delivered remotely via Skype. This is a great option for regional visits to cut down on travel costs. It is also a good option for an ongoing series of workshops and interactions with students. A brilliant use of the technology now available in most classrooms.  For a Virtual Visit with Tristan, click here
"Just wanted to let you know how good he was; the yrs 4 - 7 and their teachers just loved Tristan Bancks." Guardian Angels Primary School, August, 2011. "Can I thank you again for the visit on Monday, the students had a fabulous time and their common statement about you was "awesome" so you have definitely left a good impression on our "budding authors." Manly State School, July, 2011. Thank you for your wonderful presentation with the students at St Martin's. I've had very positive feedback from students, teachers and parents - congratulations on a job well done. We look forward to welcoming you back to our school at the earliest opportunity. St. Martin’s Primary School, July, 2011.
Thank you for your help with our Writer in Residence program at Ryan this year. Your recommendation of Tristan Bancks worked well, and I could not recommend him more highly to other schools looking to run a similar program.
We threw quite a challenge at him; he worked with students from Year 1 all the way to Year 9, and with teachers as well. In all of his sessions, he was organised, informative and engaging. The students were awestruck and got a lot out of it, and the teachers have been offering wonderful reviews as well. By the end of the week, Tristan was a minor celebrity around campus and had developed a great rapport with the students. This year's Writer in Residence program has been particularly memorable!
Thanks again for all your help in providing a speaker, and a big thank you for suggesting Tristan. Ryan Catholic College, Townsville, March, 2011.
Thank you so much for making our bookweek special. One parent said her daughter came home and wanted so badly to just sit and write a story and wouldn't do anything until she had written something down. She said she had a story she had wanted to write since grade one! It's lovely when you know you have inspired someone young to have confidence to try something new, so congratulations to you. Thanks for everything and the kids really enjoyed it all. St. Peter’s Primary School, Rochedale, September, 2010. We really enjoyed Tristan's visit and the response from the various audiences was great. I really appreciated the thoughtfulness of his preparation for each session and everyone felt inspired. Port Macquarie-Hastings Library Services, August, 2010. Tristan effectively used his own website for exciting examples of his use of multi-media in narrative writing. Tristan’s use of the laptop as an effective teaching tool, kept the boys’ focus while he showed his creative inspirations for places and characters in his books. Ipswich Grammar School, March, 2010. I just wanted to let you know how fabulous Tristan was today. The students were really excited. The teachers said he was the best author we’d ever had!! St. Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly, September, 2009. "I just wanted to let you know that we had a FANTASTIC day with Tristan today. He truly is a wonderful speaker and he had the kids just eating out of his hands. He really can talk “kids speak”. Even our more “challenging” boys were quite taken by him. I sat in on two sessions and watched the kids. They were totally absorbed in what he was saying and were very enthusiastic with suggestions and questions. Their looks of delight said it all. Tristan is a true gem and I will be recommending him to everyone. Thank you for recommending Tristan to us. You just have the knack of recommending the right speaker." St. Augustine’s Parish School, April 2009. Tristan was a smash! Besides Tristan's great books I highly recommend Tristan as an entertaining speaker who has that unique presence that connects with all students. Wagga Wagga Regional Library Service, May 2009. To download an event poster promoting Tristan's forthcoming visit, please click HERE Click HERE to download a book order form 
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