As well as my poetry-writing for children, I write short stories for grown-ups. On Saturday, November 23rd I'll be on a panel at the Australian Short Story Festival in Fremantle, talking about my flash fiction. Here are some details for the grown-ups!

Panel: 'Out of the Chrysalis' a panel with Rebecca M. Newman, Alison Davis and Isabelle Biondi Saville, moderated by Brooke Dunnell. 

When: 9.30am, Saturday 23 November 2024.

Where: Notre Dame Universi...

I'll be at the State Library of WA on 17 November for the 2024 Young Readers Day Out!

Meet some of WA’s most well-known children’s book authors and illustrators for a morning packed with activities, including:
• Helping illustrators compete in an interactive illustration duel
• Learning how to draw your favourite book...

I'll be presenting at the Perth Festival Writers Weekend this month at the State Library of WA. You can catch me at two sessions on Saturday 24 February 2024 (one session is for adults and one for kids). I'll be the one waving around a shiny copy of Right Way Down and Other Poems!

TELLING TALES Sat 24th February 2024, 10am Panel for adult audience (45 mins)
Rebecca M. Newman will be o...

Since March last year it has been all systems go for the creation of a shiny new poetry anthology for children called Right Way Down and Other Poems. This excellent collection includes poems by Australian writers for Australian kids. It's co-edited by me (Rebecca M Newman) and Sally Murphy and every single poem is illustrated by the fabulous Briony Stewart. We can't wait for you to read it.

Here's the blurb from Fremantle Press:

Stand on your head with Sally Murphy, explode some dynamite with...

2023 is shaping up to be all about poetry for me.

In February I received the most excellent news with an offer of funding from the Western Australian Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries to publish an anthology of poetry for children, showcasing WA voices. The anthology will be published by Alphabet Soup Books, and co-edited by Dr Sally Murphy OAM and me!  (If you're a grown-up interested in submitting poetry for this anthology, guidelines are availabl...

2022 is rushing by and I have a few exciting things in store over the next few months!

Firstly, this month you can read one of my blackout poems in issue two of a new magazine for kids aged 10-14. Flight is a quarterly illustration and story magazine, featuring artists and writers from all over the world. You can check out the magazine here. 

17 & 18 September 2022 in Perth: I'll be teaming up with fabulous illustrator Cindy Lane to run a poem-and-ar...

This year I’m taking part in a Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem, which is running during April for National Poetry Month in the USA. (Thank you to fellow Australian poet Kathryn Apel for the invitation!) The Progressive Poem was the brainchild of Irene Latham back in 2012 and since 2020 Margaret Simon has taken the baton as poem coordinator.

During April the poem has been passing from bl...

In October I was thrilled to open a parcel and find a beautiful Bloomsbury anthology with one of my poems in it. The anthology is Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: magical poems chosen by Paul Cookson. My poem is on page 97 and is called ‘Potion problems’. All the poems have a magical theme so it’s positiv...

Isn’t 2020 a WEIRD year? I’ve been extremely lucky — in between all the weird stuff I’ve had some wonderful happenings, too. After my Paper Bird Fellowship event back in January, I had a poem published in the March 2020 issue of The School Magazine. This one’s called ‘The Button Jar’ and has a fabulous illustration by Cheryl Orsini to go with it.

Also in March: I was interviewed by author Nadia L King about poetry and poetry writing. You can read that interview here...

If you follow me on social media, you might already know that I finished 2019 on a high note with a second place in Jackie Hosking’s rhyming poetry competition. The end of 2019 also heralded the end of my Paper Bird Fellowship. I was a Poet-in-Residence at Paper Bird for Term 4, and during my residency I was working on my children’s poetry collection, Rules for Sneezing.

Which leads me to this exciting news:

A Paper Bir...

The past few months have been busy! Here’s a quick recap:

This term I’m the recipient of a Paper Bird Fellowship. This means I have the use of a writing studio at Paper Bird during Term 4 while I work on my children’s poetry collection. The collection is tentatively called Rules for Sneezing. I’ve been writing some brand new poems and polishing up some old ones, an...

So, 2019 is off to a fabulous start! I sold a poem to Bloomsbury Education in the UK for their 2019 children’s poetry anthology Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: Magical Poems Chosen by Paul Cookson. This is extra exciting news for me – I’ve had quite a few poems published by The School Magazine, but this will be my first poem in an anthology. I’m looking forward to holding a book in my hands later this year. (My poem is called ‘Potion problems’.)

Here’s a picture of me posting...

Back in July I tagged myself to share a post about my favourite books from the first half of 2018. So it seems like a good idea to tie off 2018 with my favourites from the second half.

If you’re new here: I focus on books for under 12s. (I just don’t get through many books for grown-ups — or young adults — in 6 months.)

* = I borrowed the book from the library

**= I receive...

I’ve seen a few mid-year book tag posts on book blogs recently. (No-one has tagged me, but that won’t stop me joining in.) Because no-one has officially tagged me, I’ve changed up the questions a bit to suit myself. That’s the upside of tagging yourself.

I’m all about children’s books for under 12s. (I just don’t get through many books for grown-ups — or young adults — in 6 months.)

If there’s an asterisk it means I borrowed it from a library. I do love a library.

...

Lots of excellent happenings have been … happening … around here. A few months back  I said yes to a shared studio space at Paper Bird Books and Arts in Fremantle. There are three of us being creative in the studio space. It’s light and bright, and since I started writing here (about twice a week) I’ve finished three picture books and I’ve written a good number of poems, too.

Don’t you love this mat?

Speaking of poems (and not so much about mats), The School Magazine has bought two more of my poems this year. And I’ve posted new poems to the Poetry Tag site. Here they are, and if you haven’t already, you should definitely zip straight over and see them in all their glory:...

New Years’ Resolutions — I have some.

Writing
Submit manuscripts to publishers.

I need to send more of my work out on submission. Shortly after coming to this conclusion: I submitted a short story to an anthology on 5th January. Pat on the back for me.

Garden
Turn my garden into a low-maintenance garden that has actual living plants in it.

I bought pots of succulents. Lots of them. I don’t love succulents — I prefer leafier sorts of plants that rustle when the wind blows (the same sorts of plants, it turns out,  that can be burnt to death by summer sun and desiccated by scorching salty winds). But, emboldened by my new resolve to stock my...