sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Author Visit in 2019? Book Now (And get a free book!)

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It’s August, my busiest month of the year. With Bookweek next week, I am busy visiting schools and libraries, talking about books and writing. Lucky me! This is one of the best parts of my job.

But, when August is over, so too are my author visits for 2018. This is sad for me, because I love what I do, but also exciting for me, because I am spending 12 weeks in Hanoi, Vietnam, where I will be busy writing new things. More about that in an upcoming blog post.

So, no more bookings for 2018. But, when the calendar ticks over to 2019 I will be ready once again to visit schools, libraries, festivals, writing groups, community centres – you name it. I want to fill my diary to overflowing!

So, if you want to see Sally Murphy in person next year, now is the time to book. Booking early gives you the pick of the dates! And, as an August and September bonus, if you book now I will donate a free signed copy of one of my books to your school/library/organisation. You can add it to your collection, use it as a prize, or whatever you like!

So, what are you waiting for? Book now!

Book a Visit for 2018

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Welcome back to the new school year.  My regular Teacher Tuesday posts will start again from next week but, in the meantime, I thought I’d remind you that now is a wonderful time to think about booking an author visit session with me.

Based in Western Australia, but available to travel anywhere in Australia (or the world!), I can run writing workshops, meet the author sessions, and teacher professional development.

Want to inspire your students to write creatively? A narrative writing or poetry workshop might be the go.

Want to inspire them to read? Then book a meet the author session.

You can see my recommended sessions here, but I am happy to tailor to your needs.

2018 marks the 100-year anniversary of the end of Word War 1, and also the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Villers Bretonneux. My picture book Do Not Forget Australia focusses on this battle, and the extraordinary friendship it led to between France and Australia.  I would love to visit your school and talk about this friendship – and the book.

Why book me?  My goal in life is to spread a love of reading, and writing – and my sessions are energetic, fun and engaging. I’m also an experienced teacher, with a PhD in children’s poetry, so my energy is backed by depth of knowledge.  What all this translates to is that  an author visit will increase your students’ motivation and interest in reading and writing.

Want to know more? Contact me today.

Poetry Bootcamp- and PD By Stealth

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Yesterday, I ran my first two writing workshops for 2018, presenting poetry writing boot camps as part of the City of Bunbury libraries school holidays program.

Characters come alive on the streets of Bunbury

I had a lot of fun using photos of some of Bunbury’s amazing street art as picture prompts to create poems.

Apart from the wonderful chance to meet and share with enthusiastic young writers, another thing that delighted me was that two teachers – one at each session –  told me that they would be trying similar activities with their own classes when school goes back.

Hooray! Teacher PD by stealth! And on their holidays.

Which of course made me think of how much I love visiting schools (which I posted about last week), and how, having an author visit your classroom might not just motivate students to read and write, but can also act as a form of professional development for the teacher, demonstrating new ways of teaching writing, which is an area lots of teachers say they find challenging – something, as a teacher myself, I completely understand.

So, if you are wanting and extra reason to justify having an author visit your school or classroom, think of it as meeting PD requirements. And, if you’d like, you can add an after-school PD session to the program!

If you’d like me to visit in 2018, you can contact me here.

Making Plans for the New School Year

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Now that the Christmas/New Year break is over, and people start to return to work, I’m starting to get emails and phone calls enquiring about my author visits and writing workshops. Hooray! The only thing I love to do as much as write is talk.

I love the variety of sessions I get asked to run, the amazing schools I visit, the even more amazing students and teachers I get to meet and – importantly – I love the feeling when my visit makes a difference to a child (or a while school full of children) –making reading, writing or both just a bit more special. I also love helping teachers to find new ways to teach writing and to instil a love of reading.

The sessions I did in 2017 included:

  • Dozens of meet-the-author sessions in schools and at libraries
  • Poetry writing workshops in primary schools
  • Narrative writing workshops in primary and secondary schools
  • A whole day workshop using Do Not Forget Australia as an inspiration to write poetry- every year 5 student present had at least two poems drafted by the end of the day.
  • Writing workshops for school children and the public in Sharjah in the UAE
  • A visit to a school where year 6 students had spent a term reading my verse novels as an author study
  • Leading a Bookweek rap at Bookweek assemblies
  • Professional development workshops in teaching narrative and poetry writing
  • And more!

In 2018 I look forward to visiting even more schools and libraries, spreading the love of reading and writing. If you’re a teacher, librarian or festival organiser and you’d like me to visit you,  drop me a line.

Happenings at the Backyard Bookfair

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It’s always fun to get out and meet – and speak to – young readers. It’s an added bonus when I get to do with other authors and illustrators, which is just what happened on Saturday when I was part of the Backyard Bookfair at the State Library of WA.  Have a look at the program to see just how deep the talent pool was:

The theater was home to a series of shenanigans presentations, where we each had ten minutes to talk, present an activity, read, or whatever else took our fancy.

I had promised a craft activity, a promise that was made some time ago. And, although I did indeed deliver on this (see right for evidence of the wonderful threading of stars which took place), I also decided that what I do best  is words. SO, as well as the star activity, I wrote and performed a Christmas rap.  I had the audience participate in the chorus and it was a lot of fun.

So, if you’ve never heard me speak, or if you’ve ever wondered what I might sound like trying to rap, here’s the snippet my friend James Foley captured for me.

As well as rapping, I got to hang out with friends like Teena Raffa-Mulligan

and Frane Lessac:

I also met lots of young people and their parents, signed copies of Looking Up, and, of course, watched the other presenters.

Oh, and there were cupcakes!

What a wonderful day.  

PS

There are still 19 sleeps till Christmas. Plenty of time if you’d like to buy a book for the young reader in your life. If you’d like one of mine, signed and posted to you, contact me here. 

Backyard Book Fair

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Christmas is coming and, to celebrate, I am joining lots of my fellow West Australian children’s book people at the State Library next Saturday for the Backyard Book Fair:

There will be activities, readings, crafts and book sales and signings. Most of all, there will be fun! Here’s a glimpse of the program:

This is a free event, but it is ticketed so, to save a seat for yourself and your family, book here asap.

And, if you are there, come and say hello!

sallymurphy.com.au