Assorted Dreams

March 6, 2023 / jthorndyke / Leave a comment

Purchase the anthology from Amazon here

It has been a topsy-turvy sort of summer for me, but I finally caught up with my writing friends at Eastwood/Hills Fellowship of Australian writers and was able to take delivery of my copy of Assorted Dreams. The members who took on the job of editing and publishing the anthology have done a fine job of putting the book together, with a nice balance of poems and short stories.

So many dedicated writers have participated in the Eastwood/Hills meetings, workshops and competitions since the beginning of the group. This anthology publishes work by twenty-two of the current members. It demonstrates what writers can achieve, when we meet together, learn from each other, and provide a supportive environment for creativity to flourish.

Celebrating Milestones

October 21, 2021 / jthorndyke / 1 Comment

Like many people, during lockdown I have missed being able to celebrate personal milestones in the normal way. Significant birthdays, anniversaries and book releases have had to wait for another day. Ginninderra Press also have milestones to celebrate: and have published a book of poetry from 160 poets in this, their 25th year. I’m very glad to be included with my poem “Clean Lines”. Congratulations to Stephen and Brenda Matthews for another publishing milestone, and thanks for the brilliant support they offer to so many Australian writers.

Bimbilla

May 10, 2021 / jthorndyke / Leave a comment

poem published in The School Magazine ORBIT MAY 2021

The School Magazine

So pleased to see my poem BIMBILLA in The School Magazine ORBIT May 2021 with a vibrant illustration by indigenous artist Leanne Watson.

This poem is a tanka sequence, written in 2006. In the same year, I wrote a short story for children with the same title, Bimbilla. Bimbilla is a Worimi word for a pink cockle shell. I discovered the word on an information sign at a beach north of Port Stephens, New South Wales, where the story and the poem are set.

So often a visit to a place, and encounter with an object or word, will provoke some new writing.

https://www.bushcamp.com.au/gallery/dark-point-middens/

My story was a finalist in the Ginninderra Press short story for children competition, and was published in the anthology SECRETS. That was the beginning of my association with Ginninderra Press who have published my two tanka collections and two fiction books (Mrs Rickaby’s Lullaby 2019 and Divertimento 2021).

The short story BIMBILLA is available to read here on my website. https://juliethorndyke.com/2016/05/27/bimbilla/

I’d love it if an indigenous artist would collaborate with me to make an illustrated book of the story. Writing is a long game, and publication sometimes comes after a long time. A story like this has longevity, and I think there is still more to come.

All aboard!

March 22, 2021 / jthorndyke / 3 Comments

Last Train Home edited by J. Pearce, 2021.

There’s something romantic, mysterious and exciting about a rail journey. The cover of this new anthology, Last Train Home, captures the feeling so well. Canadian poet Jacqueline Pearce has selected around 600 short form poems including haiku, tanka and rengay, all addressing the theme of trains and train journeys.

Who among us didn’t enjoy playing with a toy train in our childhoods? Who hasn’t responded to the atmospheric film scenes of arrivals and departures on a fog-shrouded railway station? Who doesn’t long for the thrill and excitement of a new journey into the unknown?

I’m delighted to be included in this new book, with a fanciful tanka written in response to a literary favourite. I hope that you will come on a journey with the many wonderful contemporary haiku, tanka and rengay poets represented in this book.

The whistle is sounding . . . all aboard!

Too Late to Leave

March 8, 2020March 8, 2020 / jthorndyke / Leave a comment

koala

Everyone’s new favourite app
showed red flames across the map
bushfire closed in like a trap—
it was too late to leave.

Blackened paws and toasted fur
burnt poles where the gum leaves were
smoke-smudged skies an ashen blur . . .
it was too late to leave.

Blood-red skies on New Year’s Eve.
Politicians disbelieve.
Together people can achieve
a world with air that’s safe to breathe.

To keep our skies both clear and blue
you know what people have to do:
get rid of dirty fossil fuels
protect the trees like precious jewels
conserve our water, tend the land
at last the people understand

it is a choice we all must make
to save and nurture, give not take
to mend the damage, gain reprieve
there’s no plan B—we cannot leave.

Julie Thorndyke

Prayer of the Birds

December 18, 2019December 18, 2019 / jthorndyke / Leave a comment

Soot and ash line path and sill
hope is low, but Christmas will
bring us blessings large and small—
we long for rain, to hear drops fall.

Sweet things, soft strings, voices limber
wrapped-up books and stars a shimmer
tinselled trees and eyes that glow . . .
love expands as children grow.

For these things we give our thanks
as fires rage round empty tanks.
Hear the prayer the wild birds call—
and send sweet rain, best gift of all.

Julie Thorndyke

picture source

Mountain Secrets

November 7, 2019November 7, 2019 / jthorndyke / Leave a comment

So wonderful to participate in the Ginninderra Press launch of their new anthology Mountain Secrets at Blackheath.

My poem “How to Move Meehni” is just one of the many poems themed around that most mysterious of landforms, mountains.

After a long association, I was able to meet publisher Stephen Matthews and editor Brenda Eldridge (Matthews) in person.

Thank you so much to both these wonderful people who keep local literature alive in Australia today.

Haiku Stars

November 5, 2019 / jthorndyke / Leave a comment

Japanese Garden
Campbelltown Arts Centre

This November it was a pleasure to share the essence of haiku with a group of local children experiencing the Japanese garden at b Campbelltown Arts Centre.