Poetry Friday: The Roundup is Here!

January 10, 2020 by Sally

It’s Poetry Friday and not only is it time for me to share some poetry goodness, but I’m also hosting the Roundup today which means, at the end of this post you will find the links to all the poetry goodness offered by the rest of the PF community.

But before you rush off to tour the world wide web, my own roundup of what I’ve been up to of late.

One of the small things I’m doing in my response to the horrible bushfire catastrophe still happening here in Australia, is to be part of the amazing #authorsforfireys auction happening on Twitter. There are so many amazing items being auctioned, with all proceeds going directly to the fire agencies and wildlife relief. My small offering is an one-hour school visit – in person if in West Australia, or, via skype anywhere else in the world. The hour can be for a school, writers group etc, or even one on one for a consultation. You can bid on this item or any of the other items by heading to Twitter until 11pm (AEST) tomorrow. Just search the hashtag #authorsforfireys. And, if you want to understand how the auction works there is a webpage to explain here.

I’ve also been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in the last few weeks rereading some of my favourite verse novels. Along with staff from the National Centre of Australian Children’s Literature and my talented friend Kathryn Apel (who, incidentally, is also part of the #authorsforfireys auction) are compiling a bibliography of Australian verse novels for children and young adults. We have managed to identify over fifty such books and been busily reading and annotating to create a resource for teachers, librarians, children’s literature lovers and, ultimately, to help get quality verse novels into the hands of young readers.

As a result, I have managed to reread the very first verse novel I ever read – before I even knew of the term ‘verse novel’, It was Margaret Wild’s YA novel, Jinx . I am forever grateful that I discovered this novel and the form, starting a love affair which will last for the rest of my life. The bibliography will be available later this year, and we look forward to sharing it far and wide.

And, speaking of verse novels, I have also been busy planning how best to share my own new verse novel, Worse Things, coming in May, with the world. So, as a tiny starting point, it’s time I reveal the cover of this new book baby here for the world to see. So, drumroll please – here its:

I am really delighted with what the amazing Sarah Davis has come up with for the cover – really different than my earlier verse novels, which is good, because so is what’s in between the covers. I really can’t wait to share more about this book, including some poetry, as the year goes by.

And some poetry for my post? I must confess that the poetry still isn’t flowing from my fingers, so I went digging through my files for something to recycle, and found this from a beach walk. i thought it apt because, even when poetry doesn’t flow, a walk in nature, especially on my beach, is always balm.

Thanks for dropping by, and now over to my Poetry Friday friends to let us know what they’ve been doing:

Poetry Friday: Not Much Poetry Here

January 3, 2020 by Sally

It’s Poetry Friday and, like Carol, who is posting the weekly roundup today, one of my goals for the New Year is to participate more in this wonderful sharing of poetry. And I even sat down to write a poem for today’s post.

But my country is on fire. And, while I did manage to write some lines on this fact, and my feelings, they are not fit to share here because they offer no hope. The poem was part sorrow, part anger at the man elected to run this country and the big interests which have for too long denied that our climate is changing and that action needs to be taken. I wanted my poem to end on a note of postitivity because, believe it or not, I am able to see some positives. The voices being raised by every day people to say ‘enough’, the thousands of volunteers (and paid workers too) working to fight the fires, to try to keep people safe, to rescue animals, to put pressure on an inept Federal Government to do more, these are all positives. But when I tried to put that into a poem they sounded like platitudes – and we have heard too many of those.

So instead, my non-poetic post is to say that there will be poetry on this blog and in our future. Sad poems, angry poems, and happy poems too. Because we need creativity now more than ever.

From my safe spot on the west coast, I will continue to write, and to live , and even to find joy. I will do what I can, when I can, for those affected by the fire, and for the country I love which will be suffering for a long time. And I will put my anger to good use to join in the calls for change, in Australia and around the world. We need to start treating our earth as the fragile thing it has always been.

Here is to a 2020 filled with poetry and with positive action. You can start with more poetry by visiting Carol’s Corner for the roundup of links. The Maya Angelou poem Carol is sharing is really appropriate at the moment – and always.

Oh, in the midst of my need to share my worries, I almost forgot that I did take the time this week to think about goals/resolutions for 2020. I wanted to come up with one word for the year, but ended up with several.

, poetry quote

Poetry Friday: First Swim

November 29, 2019 by Sally

It’s Friday which means it’s Poetry Friday. The weather here has been summerish for weeks, even though Summer isn’t officially here till Sunday. I love the warm, especially since it gives me an excuse to swim- beach or pool, doesn’t matter, I just love to swim. But there is nothing like that very first outdoor swim for the season and this got me thinking about how, as a child, I would be so excited when the town swimming pool would finally open for the season. The anticipation of that first swim – and the joy of finally jumping in! Here’s a little poem I wrote a while back to celebrate that memory – and, because I don’t have a photo to go with it, here’s one of my favourite photos of something a little bigger than me having a splash.

First Swim

This whale tail is completely unrelated to all of my books, but it makes me smile.

Summer’s here

and I rejoice

to see the OPEN sign outside the pool.

Blue water beckons

and once I’ve paid

I dump my towel and rush

to greet my old friend.

SPLASH!

Bliss bubbles and bibbles

as I plunge into icy depths.

(Poem and photo copyright Sally Murphy)

The Poetry Friday roundup today is hosted by Bridget. Pop by, check out the round up and be sure to wish Bridget a Happy Thanksgiving – she’s far from home as she celebrates.

Poetry Friday and an Email That Made Me Cry

November 22, 2019 by Sally

It’s Poetry Friday – a special day of the week but, unfortunately, one I have not had much time to take part in this year. Life has been hectic -with a full time day job at Curtin University in Perth, a new book (Bushfire) back in February, a new verse novel (Worse Things) scheduled for 2020, a month long residency in Canberra and, of course, lots of other things.

But I’ve been planning to get back to regular postings and an email this morning has given me the impetus.

The email, from a young reader named Ben, was short and sweet but gosh it mad me cry – in a good way. Ben took the time to email and tell me how much he loved my book 1915. It is, he tells me, his favourite book ever. And his favourite part? A poem called ‘Men Don’t Cry’. I love that Ben especially liked this poem because, tome, it is the essence of the whole book.

See, the main character in the book, Stan, is a soldier,fighting at Gallipoli in WW1. He’s just an ordinary man – a teacher from Bunbury, Western Australia, who has joined up to do what he sees as his duty but is, as so many young men were, confronted by the brutal reality of the war. He finds himself thinking a lot about courage and bravery.One thing that helps him through is writing poetry and, in the book, we see some of those poems, including one written at a time when he is at his darkest. That a young reader read that poem and loved it means the world to me and would to Stanley, too, I am sure.

So thanks Ben for your email, which has inspired me to share that poem here today and, at the same time, jump back into Poetry Friday.

Men Don’t Cry

Men don’t cry, or so I’ve heard

But here I sit and do

Because, dear friend this damned war

Has done its worst to you.

When we first met you made me laugh

You made me smile and more.

We became friends, we became mates

And together we marched to war.

Side by side we fought for months

And still you made me grin.

You were brave and tough, your mother’s son

Determined we would win.

When I was hurt you lifted me

And helped me toward aid.

That brave decision, sad to say

Was the last one that you made.

A shell blast took us both to ground

And you died a hero’s death.

Your only concern your mother dear

Her name on your last breath.

Men don’t cry, but if that’s so

Then no more man am I

As on your final resting place

I can only sit and cry.

(Sally Murphy, 2015)

I’m off to check out the rest of the Poetry Friday goodness which starts at Sloth Reads, where Rebecca is hosting the round up, starting with a yummy salad poem.

Hello from the Capital!

July 9, 2019 by Sally

Hello From Canberra! Cold (freezing!) but beautiful Canberra – Australia’s capital city, on the other side of the country from my home in the West. I am here writing, and researching and, in between times, walking and exploring. Why? Because I have been given the gift of time to write by the very generous May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust, in the form of a Creative Time Fellowship. What this means is that for four weeks I have a little apartment at the Australian National University to write. How magical!

And, after a very busy first half of the year I am really delighted to have the time to write. While I’m here I’m hoping to complete two projects – the verse novel I began in Hanoi last year, and a chapter book I started earlier this year. After 8 days I can say I’m tracking pretty well on the first of those, which I’ve prioritised. Mornings are for this project. I won’t do much to the other until I get the verse novel done – because they both have ten year old girl protagonists and I want to be sure I keep their voices unique. But, I do have some other projects that I toy with later in the day. I have been researching two different historical stories on and off over the past year, and have made progress with both of these since I was here. I love the unexpectedness of research, which can take me on journeys I did not expect. Both of these ideas come from specific little known people – but the research has left me really determined to make them more known.

When I’m not writing or researching I’m walking. I really love exploring places by foot and Canberra is perfect for walking. The amazing Lake Burley Girffin is very close to where I’m staying and is delightful to walk along and around. I’ve walked over kilometres a couple of days and, although I got myself a public transport card on my first day, so far I haven’t used it – I just point myself in the direction of where I want to go and walk. The weather has been kind for this – although it is very cold, it has been fine every day, bar one with a few showers.

Here are a few glimpses of what I’ve seen.

The little swimming critter is a rakali – a native water rat (though I think she is more otter like than rat like). I’d hoped to spot one but was lucky enough to see two in one day – and get this one on camera. If you want to follow my adventures, you can follow me on Instagram.

I realised when I sat down to write this post that I’ve not updated here on the blog since March. Oops! I did say I’ve been busy this year. Will try to get time for an update soon. In the meantime, back to work for me.

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

March 10, 2019 by Sally

While I was in Sydney recently for the amazing SCBWI National Conference and subsequent PD Day for teachers at the State Library, I heard something about me (and my books) which I had not realise. See, I knew some of my books were on the reading list for the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, an amazing challenge which sees students across the state reading a wide range of books from a curated list. What I hadn’t realised was that I have books on each of the four lists – for ages from Kindergarten to Year 9.

How exciting – and what an honour.

So if you, your students or children are taking part in the Reading Challenge in 2019, you can include the following books in your reading: Looking Up