Happy World Poetry day

Of course let's celebrate by a sneak preview into the covers of my soon to be released poetry book
'Guinea Pig town and other animal poems.'



And look what arrived in the mail today today- from my family in UK to celebrate all things to do with Guinea pigs and poetry.

What poem wil you read on World poetry day or maybe you might write one!

(c) Lorraine Marwood

A short story and craft

I've had a few creative few weeks.  One of the excitements has been my story "It's not your picnic Oscar' published in the March edition of 'School Magazine.'

It's actually a rather gruesome cover, but Oscar is a harmless little dog wanting to discover an Oscar party all his own.  This idea germinated in a park in Western Australia from a comment a lady with a dog made.  I tried many versions, mainly picture book  text until Oscar evolved into the story of an dog who lived with old Jim at the local rubbish tip.

Some stories can years to shape.

As well as writing, I've enjoyed two forms of craft.  I've wanted to knit some dish cloths pattern here.

And these are what I've made so far from thrifted cotton.

Then there is my need to do beading.  I've finally figured out how to make necklaces.

Here is a sample.

I do love crafting and writing- similar in some ways, immensely satisfying.

New book coming out April

Welcome to the Next Big Thing Trail Blog

I’m following on from Janeen Brian who posted on her blog

http://janeenjottings.blogspot.com.au

last Wednesday- take a peek to see what great books are coming out this year from Janeen.

What is the working title of your next book?

Guinea Pig town and other poems about animals

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A joint idea from my publisher and myself. 

Sarah Foster is very keen on poetry and a book about animal poetry flows on from my other two collections with Walker books- ‘Note on the door and other poems about family’,  A Ute picnic and other Australian poems.

What genre does your book fall under?

Children’s poetry, a very lonely genre, but an exciting genre.

What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition?

Obviously there would be a flamingo, a whale, a hippo, a snake, etc…

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

All that is unique, characteristic and playful about animals, both domestic, wild and Australian come together to celebrate poetry for children.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My book will be published by Walker books Australia.  I don’t have an agent.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Over a year of writing new poems, researching, finding the right tone for the animal and arriving at a title poem to centre the collection around.  Some poems were even written in the UK- for example ‘Flamingos’ was written after visiting a restaurant with roof top gardens in London.  ‘Narwhal’ was written after visiting Blair Castle in Scotland.

‘Working Sheep dog’ gained its inspiration from Country Clare Ireland and of course my own Australian landscape and farming background.

Many more poems were written than actually made it into the collection.  Then came revisions, changes, editing.  Over 80 poems are in this collection, including two longer prose poems.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

That’s a hard question to answer as very few poetry collections are published in Australia.  I think it compares to my two previous collections with Walker around a central them of Family and Australia.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I love poetry, its brevity yet rich vision.  Sarah Foster and the landscape and world around me inspired this collection - much to celebrate and enjoy.  And the shape of a collection comes together over time and is a challenge to incorporate variety, mystery, drama and emotion.

What else might pique a reader’s interest?

I think the variety in format and style, even to some rhyming poetry.   a reader can dip and savour throughout the book. 

For example:

The poems are categorized under the town theme such as:

Wild Thing Lane, Precious Pet Parade, Seascape Drive, Creepy Crawly Crescent – to name a few.

The poems themselves are often little moments in time, in observation, presented in sensory detail and lend themselves to a pattern for writing by the reader.

My aim is to allow the reader to look at the world from a new perspective and marvel and enjoy.

Next Wednesday   27^th of February Claire Saxby will be in the next instalment of this blog tour.

Click over to :   http://letshavewords.blogspot.com.au

Sources of inspiration

My new book is currently at the printers!  Exciting.  This book has taken over a year to write, rewrite and edit.  Mary, my editor at Walker is fantastic with feedback and suggestions.  No mean feat tackling the editing of poetry.

It's all about animals, domestic, wild, Australian, farm.   I now research for information about that animal, then find a tone, a dramatic entry, a patterning to write the poem.

The whole collection is centred around a prose poem called 'Guinea Pig town '.

Some poems were written while overseas like the Flamingo poem, Narwhal gained its inspiration from a castle in Scotland.

But at the weekend we went to Werribee Zoo  and I loved the animals there- wish I'd had the photos I have now to write from...

I think the growth from this collection for my own writing craft, is the research needed to make that small animal poem full of vibrancy and detail.  Important poetic considerations from my viewpoint.

What's important in poetry to you?

Occasional Book Review

Hey Baby!   by Corinne Fenton

 Walker books

A great book has a great title- and what an eye-catcher this one is!

It serves as an invitation to join in the conversation, to observe, to revel in the remarkable photographs that accompany the text in this picture book.

Succinct words and fabulous animal photographs are the stars of this book.

This makes a delicious, caring read to share with a new baby or toddler.  What an affirming, positive, liberating experience.

Words are highlighted in colour.  For example splash is  printed in orange to ‘swim’ with the goldfish on the page and this  enriches the joy and reading journey of the book.

The intimate words and expression of love are underscored with the uniqueness, the preciousness of a baby.  And we see that baby right in the end pages of the book.

Never doubt for a second,  a splash, or a hold-your-breath moment…

I think my favourite page is the zebra- after seeing one of my grandchildren take her zebra softie to bed with her, I think a zebra shows us our own unique, genetic makeup.

Highly recommended.

Corinne Fenton writes wonderful picture books about childhood like Queenie the elephant and Dog on the tuckerbox.

History, craft and Writing

A new Year 2013!

And threads of history begin to weave their way through this new January.

I've begun workshops with the Post Office gallery, Bendigo in conjunction with the Art gallery as part of their holiday workshop programs.

We're working right beside the 'Growing up in Bendigo' exhibition.  What fun.  Looking at ordinary people's childhood treasures.

I was invited to submit also and eventually chose a beloved craft book given to me by my grandmother in the 1960's.  As I revisited it again I realise what a big part creativity has played in my life and continues to play.

The workshops involved making /writing memories and then crafting a memory box.  I thought that an hour and a half on a 41 C degree day would be too long, but it wasn't if anything we needed more time.

The age group is 8 - 12 years 

Here's a peek at some of the covered boxes.

Christmas is coming

I love the Christmas season, but not the rush.

I enjoy looking through my box of Christmas decorations, but still the one that inspires is a wooden bowl of seed pods I've added to over the years.  Initially it was bought at an auction and I love the wonder of shape and texture of so many seeds.  And I know children love this wonder also.

The one red berry is a gift of my long gone Grandmother who loved Christmas and loved giving.

I've added to the collection this year- a brush work squirrel I found at Homebase in London- most of the ornaments were brush- like.

Do you have a favourite ornament that brings a rush of memory or emotion?

Wishing you all the joy and peace of Christmas.