sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

First Review

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Waiting for the first reviews of a new book is always a bit  nerve-wracking, but fortunately I didn’t have to wait to long this time round, with the first reviews of Roses are Blue appearing online today.

As a bonus,one review – at Children’s Books Daily –  also features reviews of both Pearl Verses the World and Toppling.  You can see what reviewer Megan Daly has to say, and see a photo of her with me at the book’s launch here.

The other review by Michelle at Lamont Standing Orders, describes the books as: “Heart-warming, sensitive and full of love and friendship”. You can read the full review here.

Felling blessed today.

A Weekend to Treasure

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What a weekend!

I’m just back from four days in Canberra, where I attended the CBCA National Conference. The CBCA is a not for profit organisation dedicated to fostering a love for and awareness of literature for young Australians. And, in a time when bookstores are closing, funding for the arts (including literature) is being cut, libraries are under threat, and we hear lots of doom and gloom about the future of books, let me tell you that the future of Australian children’s books is looking bright, if this weekend is anything to by. The conference was full of authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians, teachers, academics and more, all passionate about putting good books into kids’ hands.

Highlights, for me:

  1. The above. Spending time with so many friends, old and new, with the common love of children’s books. I think I’ll blog some more about friends in the coming days.
  2. The launch of Roses are Blue, during morning tea on Sunday. The book isn’t due out till July 1 so there will be another launch closer to home a bit later on, but seeing the book in print, and sharing it in that environment was fabulous. It was espgesture2ecially wonderful to share the moment with my special friends (again, I’ll say more about this in another post), and to also share the moment with the delightful Choechoe Brereton, whose debut picture book A House for Donfinkle, was launched at the same time. We’d not met before, but I know we will meet many more times, and after a short time together I felt like I’d know her forever. Gorgeous gorgeous lady.
  3. Andy Griffiths‘ session where he discussed whether Humour is Really Necessary in Children’s Books. He had the audience laughing and nodding and laughing some more. His answer? In brief – not every book for children has to be funny (think A Bridge to Terabithia, for example) , but yes we need humorous children’s books, as well as humour within books which are not completely funny. I agree whole-heartedly.
  4. A session celebrating the wonderful work of The School Magazine.( In a wonderful piece of serendipity, I didn’t know my poem Rain was in the new issue of the magazine, so that was a lovely surprise, as was the fact it was illustrated by Matt Ottley. Then, in another lovely coincidence, my first email this morning was an acceptance for another poem for the magazine.) But back to the magazine itself. This wonderful set of publications is produced monthly, and has been around for almost a hundred news, sharing stories, poems, articles, puzzles and wonderful illustrations with school children in NSW and around Australia. Significantly, it is basically the only publication which purchases and publishes poetry for children, something which is very close to my heart, not just as a poet but as someone who adores poetry and wants to see it on every child’s reading menu.
  5. Anne Bell. She is covered also as one of the friends I refer to above, but she is a highlight all on her own. This wonderful wonderful lady is a poet and an artist whose work I’ve long admired, and who is a stalwart of the Dorothea MacKellar Poetry Competition, which I judged for three years, and which encourages children from around Australia to write poetry. She’s also very good for my ego, as she told anyone who’d listen (and probably some who didn’t) how wonderful she thinks I am for focussing on children’s poetry for my Doctoral studies. She even offered to come over and wash my dishes if it would help me get it done! I adore the energy, the dedication and the wonderful spirit of this lady, as well as her humour, and it is an absolute privilege to call her a friend.

I could go on. And on. But I’m still processing the wonders of the weekend. Luckily I have two years to plan for the next conference, in Sydney, 2016.

Tag – Rebecca’s It

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I may be about to head off to Canberra, but I managed to find this morning to tag my lovely friend Rebecca Newman in out game of Poetry Tag.

How it works is I give Rebecca some random words, chosen from my magnetic poetry kit, and challenge her to use them all in a poem. It can be any form, length and topic, but she must include the words I’ve given her. The words I’ve given her today are:

DSCF2682

I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. Then, when she’s posted her result, it will be her turn to give me a set of words to incorporate into a poem of my own. Last time she gave me:

 

Words for Sally

The poem I wrote using these three words was this:

Sing

I sing

of a courageous tree

which struggles on

beside the sea

in spite of wind

and waves

and sand

perched

betwixt ocean and land.

 

I sing

of snail

that battles on

though winter’s rains

are so long gone

and shelters

waiting

in fragile shell.

How long

till rain

he cannot tell.

 

I sing

of you

embattled child

whose land

and life

have been defiled.

Who seeks new home

new hope

new place

Yet languish now

in no-man-s space.

 

I sing

to tell the world you’re there.

I sing

to let you know I care.

And like that tree

and like that snail

I sing in hopes

you will prevail.

 

I sing for you

young refugee

in hopes one day

you will be free.

 

I really enjoy this challenge – it’s a fun way to get writing and to share the poetry  journey with a friend.

What is a verse novel?

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I write verse novels (among other things) and one of the questions I get asked a lot is what is a verse novel? Sometimes, trying to explain gets complicated.

Fortunately for me, sometimes other people say things much better than I do. In this instance, the delightful Paula Green explains the form well over on the Poetry Box blog. She also has some lovely things to say about two of my verse novels. You can see her post here.

(After you’ve read it, you might want to add the blog to your favourites because a blog all about children’s poetry isRoses are Blue well worth following).

Then, pop over to The Reading for Australia blog, where I talk about my verse novels, and what it is that compels to me write sad stories. You can see that post here.

If you happen to be heading to the CBCA Conference in Canberra this weekend, you are warmly invited to come along to the launch of my third verse novel, Roses are Blue, to be launched during the conference on Sunday. I’ll be the nervous, smiley looking one up the front, so do say hello.

 

 

Chasing the Sun

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I’m having a really busy week; mostly good-busy but busy nonetheless, rushing here there and everywhere. Sometimes when I’m busy it’s hard to remember to take a few moments just to breathe and smile.   But then there are reminders to do just that.

This afternoon I dropped Murphlet 6 at footy training. I figured if I was quick I could drop him off, then pop home to do an hour’s work before racing back to get him. Just as I pulled in to the oval I spotted clouds, in the distant, with sun pouring through.

‘Look,” I said. ‘It’s raining sun.’

Then, on impulse, after I dropped him off, I followed those clouds, driving round town to find the best vantage point, which turned out to be a few kilometres away. So glad I did. This is what I got to see:

SUnset over backbeach

Stunning, The clouds  really were raining sun. I stood and watched and smiled, crossed the road, took more photos, smiled some more, and breathed in the salty air that I love.

But the impulses didn’t stop there. I then drove up the hill to a lookout I’ve often looked at but never climbed. And yep, you guessed it, I climbed the hundred steps, and looked at the  view from a slightly different angle. I did take more pics, but funnily enough, once home I decided liked the first one best.

At last, I headed for home, a big smile on my face and feeling a little more relaxed than when I left home. As I drove up my street, ten kilometres away, the sun was just about to set, so I got a different perspective:

(This is from the park across the road. I promise I didn’t take this when I was driving.)

It’s nearly time to go back and collect Murphlet 6. I haven’t ticked anything off my list, but I feel great about that. Instead of racing about and achieving stuff, I got to breathe and smile.  The list can wait.

Special Delivery

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I wasn’t expecting anything in today’s mail, so when I heard the parcel delivery van pull in to the driveway, I sent Murphlet 3 out to collect the package, presuming it wasn’t for me.

‘I think it’s a book,’ he said, when he brought it in.

‘I’ll open it in a minute I sad,’ busy with an email.  When I did get up to open it it occurred to me that maybe this was indeed something I’d been waiting for. And when I opened it, I squealed with delight and raced around the house. What was in it?  This:

 

roses toast

Just the book, not the soda water, which I poured to toast the book. The feeling of holding the first copy of a new book in my hands never diminishes. Nor does the pride in seeing my name on the front cover.

Roses are Blue will be launched at the National CBCA Conference in Canberra this weekend, and will be released on July 1.  I don’t plan on losing that glow between now and then.

sallymurphy.com.au