Published on: 10 October 2014



A card game modelled on Trumps but featuring authors has proved an instant hit with Senior School boys. Developed by the Senior Library as a way of attracting boys to its new blog, Author Wars has developed a legion of fans.

Teacher Librarian Lia de Sousa and Library Assistant Luke Milton, who is the creative force behind the cards’ clever designs, said they came up with the idea after observing the popularity of another card game with boys in the library.

“We knew the boys liked collectable cards so we came up with the idea of an interactive card game where they could keep going back to the blog to collect new cards,” Mr Milton said. In Author Wars, the boys’ favourite authors battle it out for literacy supremacy in the style of Trumps with categories including number of books, critical acclaim, popularity and word power.

The authors range from past literary greats like Charles Dicken and Ernest Hemingway to the boys’ current favourites such as Derek Landy and Morris Gleitzman. Since July, the list of authors has grown from 10 to 80, with boys constantly nominating new authors for Mr Milton to create cards for.

Ms de Sousa said not only had the game had been extremely successful in boys accessing the library’s new blog but it had also made them very interested in other authors. “The classical authors have very high stats in the game so it’s sparked lots of discussion about authors and books,” she said.

Mr Milton said while it was Years 7 to 9 boys who were the most invested, several older boys enjoyed seeing the latest cards and making suggestions. Staff had also nominated authors. The cards have also been popular with boys in the Residential Community.