Sally Murphy's Blog, page 25

Poetry Friday: Not Much Poetry Here

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

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

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!

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

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:

K-2:  Fly-in Fly-out Dad, Snowy’s Christmas 

Years 3-4:   Looking Up, Roses are Blue, the Sage Cookson series (8 titles)

Years 5-6: Toppling, Meet Mary MacKillop and Pearl Verses the World

Years 7-9:  1915, Toppling, Meet Mary MacKillop, and Pearl Verses the World

For more information about the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, visit the site here – and get reading!

Release Day: Bushfires

It’s release day for My Australian Story: Bushfires  today. As always, I am delighted to have a new book out in the world. This time, however, my excitement is tempered somewhat by events happening in Tasmania. 

Bushfires, while fictional, is set amidst the very real events of  the Black Saturday fires which ravaged Victoria in 2009. Sad then, that on the day the book is released, another bushfire tragedy is unfolding in Tasmania. This time, fortunately, the impact in terms of human life is not as severe, but it is still heartbreaking to see the natural heritage of Tasmania’s ancient forest being destroyed, and to consider the impact on the wildlife, both in the immediate and long term.

So, while I raise a toast to my new book, I am also thinking  this week about the people, animals and gorgeous forests of Tasmania.

Happy Bookday Bushfires.

 

In the Mail: Advance Copies of Bushfire

My parcel lady was a little surprised when I raced out the door on Friday as soon as she pulled into the driveway. And even more surprised that I was delighted when she handed my the parcel I had hoped she would be carrying. After all, as a book reviewer, I receive lots of parcels of books, a lot like this one:

But I knew what the postie did not: that these were not review copies, but my complimentary author copies of my newest book-baby.  Here is what was nestled safe inside:

Twelve copies of Bushfire – part of Scholastic’s My Australia Story series.  Although I had seen the cover before, I got a brand new thrill seeing it on real life copies of the books. And, over the weekend, I sat down and reread the book and may have even got a little teary as I reacquainted myself with the tale.  I can’t wait to share it with the world.

Bushfire is due for release on February 1, 2019, and is available for preorder from Booktopia and other good bookstores.

Poetry Friday: A Lucky Home

I am so lucky to be part of the Poetry Friday community – poets and poetry lovers from all around the world who post poetry goodness especially on Fridays. I am especially lucky that there are not rules in this community about the regularity of  postings. Every week since my return from Hanoi I  promised myself  this would be the week I finally posted something. But life has been busy – a wedding (my son’s), a new baby (different son), Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, swimming training. And that’s just the personal stuff. Professionally, I have been busy teaching online, and preparing for a return to oncampus teaching in February, as well as preparing for a new book baby out February 1, running picturebook workshops, and trying to work on the things I drafted in Hanoi.  Phew.

This week, however, I have been espousing the wonders of poetry to my students (future teachers), so it seemed to be the week that I HAD to make the extra effort to get on here and post for Poetry Friday.  Then Friday rolled around and I still hadn’t written anything new and really didn’t know what I would post. Lucky for me, when I went out to water my plants this morning, I found the very inspiration I needed. There, nestled in the branches of my jade plant, was a wasp nest. I grabbed my camera, and took some snaps, and almost instantly had an idea – based on the very reason the jade bush is on my front verandah.  It’s supposed to be lucky!

So, here you have it – a little bit rough , because it’s hot off the press – my first Poetry Friday poem for 2019.

And, because the orange font is a little hard to read, here is the text version:

 

A Lucky Home

Ancient wisdom says

If you plant jade bushes

at your front door

and your back door

good luck will come your way.

But if you are a wasp

and you fix your home

right in the midst

of jadey treasure

all your doors

and all your windows

even your attic

and basement

have lucky views.

And if that jade bush

is on my front porch

you are doubly in luck

as I will let you stay.

(Poem and Image Copyright Sally Murphy 2019)

Now, lucky for me, I get to go and see what my fellow Poetry Fridayers have been up to. You can too, by starting at the round up on Tricia’s Blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect. Trica’s post is a lovely tribute to Mary Oliver, who will be sadly missed by poetry lovers everywhere.

Cover Reveal: Bushfire

I am always super excited to see the cover of a new book, but even more excited to get to share that cover with the rest of the world. So, with the release of next book-baby getting scarily close, it is with great delight that I reveal the cover of My Australian Story: Bushfire:

I hope you’ll agree it is a stunning cover. I love it: I feel that it manages to capture the sheer ferocity and frightening reality of the fire.

Bushfire, part of the My Australian Story imprint from Scholastic, is a fictional story but is set amidst the very real, terrible fires of  February 2009.  It was an honour to be asked to write about these events for the series, and I hope I’ve done them justice.

Bushfire is due for release on February 1, 2019, and is available for preorder from Booktopia and other good bookstores.

Sage is Back (And I am Too)

I am home home homity home. I had a wonderful time in Hanoi, writing, exploring, meeting people, writing, walking, writing… but all good things must come to an end, and coming home is always fabulous.  It is wonderful to be back with my wonderful family, to walk on my beach, to  see my friends and to sleep in my own bed.

It is taking me a little while to get back into the swing of daily life – with the wedding of one of my sons happening soon after my arrival and, of course, three months worth of things to catch up on. It’s a good kind of busy, though, and I am happy and content.

One of the things I had to do when I got home was open three months worth of mail, a task which took a few days. It was a specially lovely surprise to find not one but two parcels containing author copies of new books – installments seven and eight of my Sage Cookson series.

First, there was Stormy Weather, which sees Sage visit Townsville and experience a cyclone first hand.

This book is dedicated to my friends at Kirwan Primary in Townsville, a school which holds a very special place in my heart. My annual visit there is a highlight of my touring calendar. I have signed a copy and posted it off to Kirwan – a tiny token of my very great love for the school and every one there.

And then there was a second parcel containing copies of Snow Day, in which Sage (and her parents) head off to the snow for a relaxing weekend – with Sage promising to stay away from danger.

Both books are out now.

 

As for me, I am busy, among other things, finishing off the two new books I started work on in Hanoi, among many other things.

Stay tuned.