In Print in August

I've had the real joy of having a couple articles on my work appear in print in August. I would really like to extend my thanks to Highlife Magazine and the English Teachers Association journal mETAphor for their interest in and support of my poetry.

I think I wrote on my social media that I've now been a resident of the Highlands for 25 years, which is only scratching the surface of some of the time the 'locals' of Robertson have been in the area. But, through all that time, the Highlife magazine has been there, setting a familiar tone of Highlands life—it's beautiful countryside, fine homes, and even finer lifestyle. I could never have imagined that I'd find myself in those pages, but I was thrilled when contacted by Melissa Penn (writer) and Deborah McIntosh (editor) about sharing my story with the magazine. I'm very thankful to Tony Sheffield for his time in driving out to the edge of the Highlands in Robbo and braving the cool June air to take some photos in our little patch of rainforest. Ramm's and Deere, what more do you want in a country mag. I'm so glad that Melissa and Deborah decided to put in a stanza from my poem The Rainforest in Winter — maybe we could make poetry a regular feature :)

I am also eternally grateful to Mel Dixon the publications officer at the NSW ETA for her enthusiasm and excitement for my story from The Teaching Poet, which allowed me to share some of my journey to date from a teaching perspective.

It was part of a Writing Teacher's session and some of my classroom experiences that turned me to writing poetry many years ago, and to know that I have always had the support and inspiration from my teaching colleagues has meant so much in the last few years. There are many ups and downs as a writer and I am continually reminded of the amazing work teachers do in encouraging students and each other to keep striving for success—in their writing, study, and in many aspects of the lives we live.

I was even able to include one small 'loosened' sonnet from my Sonnet Sequence from my new book Waterlines at the end of the piece. You can read the full article below, reprinted with permission from the ETA publications team.