Sherryl Clark has been writing poetry and short fiction for over twenty years. Her first collection of poetry, Edge, was published by Pariah Press in 1991. Her second collection, Thicker Than Water, was published in 1999. Her short stories and poems have won numerous awards and been published in literary journals in Australia. She has been a co-editor of Poetrix magazine since 1993.
She began writing children’s books in 1996 – her first chapter book, The Too-Tight Tutu, came from a writing exercise in a workshop. Since then, she has published 37 children’s titles, including picture books and chapter books, and her verse novel for 9-12 year olds, Farm Kid, won the 2005 NSW Premier’s Literary Award. Her second verse novel, Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!), was published by Penguin Books in May 2007, and was an Honour Book in the 2008 CBCA Awards. Her third verse novel, Motormouth, will be published in March 2010. Also coming out in 2010 will be The Littlest Pirate and the Hammerheads (picture book version) and a picture book of poems - Now I Am Bigger.
Sherryl began teaching as a community arts worker in the 1980s. She has been Writer-in-Residence, Artist-in-School, and was the Writing Officer at Footscray Community Arts Centre for six years. Since 1996, she has taught in the Diploma of Professional Writing & Editing at Victoria University TAFE. She continues to teach in the community, and is a committed member of her writing group, Western Women Writers. This group produces Poetrix magazine, which publishes poetry by Australian and New Zealand women poets. Issue 33 is due out in December 2009!
While in Hong Kong, as well as teaching classes and training workshops, Sherryl has started doing school visits. Schools she has visited include Peak School, St Catherine's Girls' High School and Yew Chung International School. She is available for school visits in both Hong Kong and Australia.
Sherryl's main website is at www.sherrylclark.com, but she also has a site specifically about poetry for kids, which includes ideas for writing poems, resources for teachers and audio files of Sherryl reading her poetry.
 Sherryl with a few of her books.
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