sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Hello!

I'm Sally Murphy, an Australian author of over 50 children's books. You'll find bits of me buried somewhere in every one of my books. I love reading, writing, and speaking about reading and writing and I especially love poetry and verse novels.

View my books or hire me to speak at your school, festival, or writers group.

Click here to view Sally Murphy's books

It’s a Book: Welcome to the World If I Could Eat the Stars

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It’s a … BOOK!  Proud parents Rebecca M. If I Could Eat the Stars: A middle-grade Australian poetry collectionNewman, Sally Murphy, and Briony Stewart are delighted to announce the safe arrival of If I Could Eat the Stars, delivered by Fremantle Press ably supported by dozens of contributors. All well and older sibling Right Side Down is happy there is more poetry in the family.

Welcome to the world darling book. We look forward to you bringing adoring gazes, then toddling around the country before you walk – run – into hearts, homes, libraries and schools. (And, dear readers, if you see our baby in the wild at bookstores or libraries near you, please let us know here on this post, or over at Instagram.)

 

If I Could Eat the Stars: Like a Bag of Lollies

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When I posted on Friday about the first reviews for If I Could Eat the Stars: A middle-grade Australian poetry collection I didn’t realise I had actually missed the very first review, from the amazing Sue Warren and posted in early March.  I’m not sure how I missed this fabulous review – possibly it appeared at the time I was dealing with family illness – but it contains a line I just love and had to share as soon as I read it. Sue says lots of wonderful things about the book, but this line:

I gobbled it up like a bag of lollies. SO good.

made me beam.

You can read the full review here and, while you’re there, you should check out more of her excellent reviews of books for young people.

 

 

 

A Poem for ANZAC Day: Home

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On ANZAC Day we remember those who have fought for Australia and New Zealand. I’ll be pausing today to think of those who died, and those who returned home, often haunted by what they’d experienced.

Home

by Sally Murphy

Call me home
that I may march
proud, not just
that I was there
but that
I withstood the dark.

 

(Poem and photo copyright Sally Murphy)

First Reviews for If I Could Eat the Stars

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Release day for If I Could Eat the Stars is almost here and, in the meantime, it’s been a big week, with my box of editor copies arriving, and some funny moments when I tried to make an unboxing video. You can see what I posted on Instagram here:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sally Murphy (@sallymurphyauthor)

I’m not a social media expert. obviously, but at least I am keeping it real, as they say.

Then, today, news of the first two reviews. First, from Joy Lawn at Paperbark Words who said, among other things:

From the lyrical to the laugh out loud, If I Could Eat the Stars and other poems is ideal to dip in and out of. Teachers could even select poems to read as lesson-break rewards.

If I Could Eat Stars showcases a fabulous depth of talent in Western Australia.

You can read the full review here.  Note that she also acknowledges that Fremantle Press, the publisher, is celebrating 50 years of publishing Western Australian books. Happy happy birthday Fremantle Press and thank what you have done for my career, and for many others, and, most importantly, sharing diverse, rich, quality stories with readers of all ages. And thanks Joy for the review.

And, just when I thought my joy was complete for today, a second review, from Good Reading Magazine, shared on Instagram  here:

Last night I sat down and read the whole book from cover to cover for the first time since we finalised the editing.  It was a real pleasure to read all the wonderful poems and adore Briony Stewart’s divine art and realise that this book is going to be in hearts and homes very soon.  (On that note, you can preorder your copy at your local bookshop or online now).

Poetry Rocks!

What I Read in March 2026

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Another month has ended – and one begun – so time to look at what I read in March. I read 8 books, with my usual eclectic mix. Here’s what they were:

Books for Children

  1. The Only Branch on the Family TreeThe Only Branch on the Family Tree , by Sherryl Clark (UQP, 2025).  I love verse novels, and I especially love the work of Sherryl Clark, so it was a delight to read this one. I loved seeing connections between this story and my own prose novel, Looking Up – in that they both deal with family estrangement, and a protagonist who discovers that a grandparent is not dead, in spite of what they’ve been told.
  2. Owl Know How [With Pattern(s)]Owl Know How , by Isobel Knowles and Cat Rabbit (Thames and Hudson, 2012). Not sure how I hadn’t come across this delightful little picture book before.
  3. The Worm Who Knew KarateThe Worm Who Knew Karate, by Jill Lever & Terry Denton (Penguin, 2019). Delightfully silly!

Poetry Books

  1.  100 Great Poems selected by Victoria Parker.I bought thisa whilea go in a second hand shop and finally picked it off the shelf and read it over a few weeks. Many familiar poems, plus perhaps an equal number unfamiliar, either at all, or that I knew of but not well. I enjoyed the poems, but also the little contextual note for each and the illustrations, from a range of illustrators.

Books for Adults

  1. The Ghost of Gracie FlynnThe Ghost of Gracie Flynn, by Joanna Morrison (Fremantle Press, 2022). Been on my shelf for a while. Narrated by a ghost, talking to a baby as she shares the story leading to her own death, and, much later, tot he death of the baby’s father. Cleverly woven.
  2. A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and DiseaseA Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease, by Shilpa Ravella (Penguin, 2023). I have been on a quest to reduce inflammation in my own body and this led to me this book. It took a lot of reading – it isn’t light reading and was not quite what I was expecting (it isn’t a how to reduce inflammation type book) but I found the journey through the story of inflammation and scientific understanding of it really interesting, and the writing was superb.
  3. Everything is FigureoutableEverything is Figureoutable, by Marie Forleo (Penguin, 2021). I heard the author on a podcast episode, which led me to the audiobook of this. Some really sound guidance on self belief, following dreams, solving problems and more. I enjoyed it.
  4.  Past the ShallowsPast the Shallows, by Favel Parett (Hachette, 2011). This one was in my to read pile for a very long time – picked up from a giveaway pile while I was doing my phd.  I am glad I finally read it – heart-wrenching, beautiful and stunning writing. This will stay with me for a very long time.

That brings my total for the year to date to 19. Hoping to get through a few more in April – I have the extra long weekend marked for catching up on some quality reading time, including more of the CBCA Shortlisted titles, which were announced earlier this week.

What have you been reading?

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!

sallymurphy.com.au