sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Heard in the Hospital: New Poem Online

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I am quiet at present while I process the loss of my mum, who I adored.

But today the news that a poem I wrote during Mum’s admission to hospital earlier this year has been published. You can read it in  Creatrix, the journal of WA Poets.

If you have a mum, hug her for me.

 

Poetry at the AFCC

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How amazing my last week was!  I flew to Singapore for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC). Note the first time I have attended this wonderful event and, each time I go it gets bigger and better.

Here are some of the things I did:

  1. Visited three schools (four sessions) to inspire kids (and their teachers) to play with words and poetry. The sessions were loud, energetic and, if I may so myself, amazing.
  2. Presented live on the festival stage to classes visiting the festival in a session simply titled Poetry!  I performed poems from If I Could Eat the Stars and Right Way Down (including the title poem)  and made up poems on the spot using words, sounds, and lots of  audience input.
  3. Presented a session called It Could Be Verse, for adult writers and readers, talking about the wonders of verse novels in general and the process behind The Riding Gallery and Worse Things.
  4. Met readers of all ages in the festival bookstore and at the signing copy, where I was kept busy.
  5. Most importantly, I listened to and learnt from authors, illustrators, publishers and more from around the world, including young readers themselves.

You can see a highlight reel of the event here:

Key takeaways:

  1. Friends are the best! I caught up with friends from previous visits, friends from Australia, and new friends.
  2. We shouldn’t just create FOR children, we need to create WITH them.
  3. Young people are amazing. I already knew this but was freshly amazed by panellists as young as ten, and the insights gained from kids in my audiences.
  4. You can never own too many books. I came home with lots of new treasures.

I could go on, but if you want to see more of what I did, I posted highlights over on Instagram each day.

I  LOVE LOVE LOVE getting to speak to audiences large or small and want to do more of it. If you need more poetry in your festival, school or other event, reach out via the contact form here, and let’s talk.

Look at this Cover!

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How beautiful is this cover? Really looking forward to sharing this beauty with the world – out in late April.

Edited by Rebecca M Newman  and me, illustrated by the divine Briony Stewart , published by Fremantle Press and with poems from established and emerging Western Australian poets, is a feast of poetry for young readers – readers of any age, really.

Available for preorder now from your favourite local bookstore or online.

 

Can’t wait to share more with you!

Happy World Poetry Day

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Did you know that today is World Poetry Day?  Well, you do now!

 

Why do we need a day to celebrate poetry – well, because although we need poetry every day, marking a special day reminds us of its importance, and its commonality – as the UNESCO site says, poetry is  ‘one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity’.

Poetry makes us laugh, cry, think, express things we find hard to express, connect with other experiences, and so much more.

But, poetry is often seen by people who don’t know better as something hard, or something elite, or something that is somehow frivolous.  It can be each of these things, but  I am here to remind you that if its hard or elite then you can look elsewhere for poetry that is accessible.  And as for frivolity, though not all poetry is frivolous, a bit of frivolity is a wonderful thing.  At a time when the world is really hard for many people, moments  of frivolity or joy can remind us of WHY we need to fight for change.

On that note, I made a little video for today, shared on Instagram, including a somewhat frivolous poem. I hope you enjoy it!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sally Murphy (@sallymurphyauthor)

PETAA National Conference

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How fortunate I am feeling after a whirlwind trip to the Gold Coast to attend the Primary English Teacher Association of Australia (PETAA) Conference.

The conference featured a line up of academics, educators and creators all passionate about building writing skills in and out of the classroom through pleasure, purpose and pedagogy. I filled notebooks, soaked up new learning, talked, laughed and made new friends while also spending time with long standing ones (including my big sister). Here I am, just before I spoke, trying to blend in with the Storybox banner in my fabulous Jericho Road dress.

I was tasked with delivering the closing keynote and shared the value of using verse novels as mentor texts and more. Although I used my own as examples, I hope I also got across the message that there are a plethora of gold standard verse novels educators can use.

I was particularly pleased that the analogy I used to talk about mentor texts allowed me to talk about my beloved Fremantle Dockers, and especially David Mundy. It isn’t a Sally Murphy presentation if I can’t sneak in some mention of Freo. I also managed to make people laugh, cry and nod their heads approvingly (not all at the same time).

I’m back at my desk today, filled with determination to keep doing what I do, to ensure that young Australians have books (and poetry!) in their hands, homes and classrooms, and that educators have the tools to make sure this happens.

To that end, if you’d like me to visit your school, festival or professional learning event, let me know.

sallymurphy.com.au