Some fun on the side

Over the years, I’ve had fun making story books for the little people in my life, using one of the commercial photo book apps. These have been one-off productions and they have been great fun.

Titles appearing under GRANDMA PRESS have been:

  • What will Matilda learn next?
  • Tilly and Tiggy
  • Elephant finds a way
  • Going to high school
  • Rosie goes riding
  • Visiting Grandma

A new one is currently in production for Christmas: Poems for Matilda.

A few wins for poetry in 2025

This year, my poem “Olive Tree at Beit Hanoun” won  the “In Memoriam Award – Honouring the long-term impacts of trauma” in the 2025 Grieve Poetry Competition hosted by Hunter Writers Centre.

You can easily find background on Beit Hanoun and understand why I wrote the poem. The opportunity to express grief that the Grieve Competition provides is valuable. There were many very moving poems in the shortlist. They, along with mine, will be published in the Grieve Anthology.

The list of winners can be found here: https://hunterwriterscentre.org/2025-grieve/

Another poem, “Six Hundred Stars”, was shortlisted in the Australian Catholic University Poetry Prize and is published in the 2025 anthology. Belonging. Again, I feel honoured to be in the company of many fine established poets and emerging ones as well.