Perth Words… exploring possibilities.

One of the best things that ever happened in Ireland was the introduction of the plastic bag ‘tax’ a few years ago.  I’m writing about this now as a similar tax has come into operation in England this week.

Here in Ireland, we’ve pretty much got rid of the blight of plastic bags being blown all over the countryside and finding themselves knotted around branches, stuck in stone walls, floating down rivers and being washed up all along our lovely coastline.

Plastic bags have a value now and having a value is something that is hugely important in all walks of life.

Lost and Lovely

I’m not sure why but I can’t seem to see old boots that are washed up on the beach as eyesores like those flapping white plastic bags. Old boots have a style all of their own. They also pose questions about the feet they once…

Rosa ‘Remember Me.’

Some of the most precious memories I have relate to first meetings with people who have been incredibly significant in my life. It always seems like an added bonus to have vivid recall of the very first moment of meeting the eyes of such a person, seeing their smile or feeling their touch.

How can we ever know that a person will go on to play a key role in our lives? I don’t have any scientific answers for this but I’ve certainly had some first meetings that have pierced my soul and have seemed determined to carve themselves on my memory.

Because of my fascination with first moments, I’ve long loved this poem:

I Wish I Could Remember that First Day

Christina Rossetti

Fight for Rhinos spends all monetary donations on our conservation projects. But there is a definite need for other items and services:

• a new color printer
• printing services (flyers, posters, etc.)
•  t-shirt donations (for printing)
• US screenprinting services
• US volunteer grant-writers
• volunteers

If you are able to assist us in any way with our wishlist, or have any questions, please email us directly at fightforrhinos@gmail.com

Remember we are a registered non-profit and items donated may be tax-deductible.

This coming weekend, I will be off to Western Australia for an AWESOME time, thanks to an invitation from Writing WA.

A few months back, National Arts Council contacted me to say that Writing WA had requested for me to attend their AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things as their Singapore guest author. Was I interested?

“Awesome!”I cried and immediately burst out into the Lego Movie Song. Okay, I didn’t sing that out loud but the song is seriously stuck in my head.

I’m looking forward to my week of giving book talks and readings at the AWESOME Festival, recognised as one of the top 25 events in the world for young people.

I also hope that the blue skies and fresh air will spark some good writing moments in this hazy writing year, where  community commitments have taken priority.

Getting ready to Fly Over to Down Under…

Jair Hernandez, one of the founders of Bab’l Books, is using his Harvard Business School degree to fill a need: bilingual children’s books for bilingual families, in both eBook and print formats. Bab’l Books was recently chosen for LearnLaunch Accelerator, a program to help educational technology startups grow and thrive. We’re thrilled that Jair agreed to be interviewed for Writers’ Rumpus. Jair is hoping to hear from authors and illustrators with universal stories that children from any culture can relate to. He’s also giving away one bilingual starter set in any language Bab’l Books has available. Enter at the end of this post.

Marianne Knowles: How did Bab’l Books get started?

Jair Hernandez: Bab’l Books came out of my own background. I grew up in Houston, but I was born in Mexico. Growing up, there was a strong desire to keep our language in our family. We…

This weekend marks the second annual Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. In cities across the world, people will be gathering, uniting to raise their voices against the poaching and destruction of two of our most iconic species.

But what’s the point?

In key consumer cities and areas of transit of ivory and horn, there will be MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) obtained and delivered to the embassies; like  South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Vietnam, and China.

In other cities like San Francisco and New York, groups are writing petitions to be delivered to local and state agencies on the on same day.

And at the very least, creating education and awareness for local communities and schools is vital to the future of not only these two species, but our wildlife in general.

In a nutshell the Global March seeks to:

• ask for political will and leadership to…