Young Jasper Ramage has already edited his own magazine and always has his head in a book. 72611 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
BY NATALIE GALLENTI
JASPER Ramage has always loved books.
As a youngster at kindergarten he could already read and write and now as a 12-year-old he has helped edit a children’s magazine.
The Grade 6 student is among a group of youngsters across Melbourne’s West to write and edit Early Harvest magazine, which also features the works of acclaimed children’s authors and illustrators and young authors from across Melbourne.
The magazine is the culmination of a 16-week after-school program, in which the editorial board created a children’s edition of literary journal Harvest magazine. The young editors were guided through the process by professionals from the publishing industry.
And according to young Jasper, it’s a magazine to be proud of.
“Writing can be purposeful,” he said.
“It gives meaning to life.
“I often poke my head out of the book and it’s been an hour.”
However his mother Caroline said an hour often turned into many hours.
“We’ve always had books in the house.
“He’s obsessed with writing.”
The Footscray Primary School student, who is particularly interested in comic writing and the science fiction genre, said without reading he may not know many of the things he knows now and encouraged other youngsters to delve into books more often.
He said editing the magazine wasn’t difficult but rather an enjoyable experience and was something he looked forward to each week.
The magazine will be launched at the historic Sun Theatre in Yarraville on 12 November.
