I’ve always been good at starting things. I find it a little harder to end things, even when it’s time to.

Late last year, I left all social media, rather abruptly. So if you’ve been looking for me online, that’s what’s happened–I haven’t blocked you or anything!

Leading up to it, I’d been thinking about spending less time on social media, but did not see how I could easily taper off my use of it. When you are a writer, and you work from home, alone, social media can be a good way to stay connected with readers, other writers, and help you keep up to date with work and publishing opportunities.

I had been struggling with boundaries–I am a very open person by nature, and my social media content reflected that openness. It also left me open and vulnerable in ways I did not expect, but should probably have predicted. I’m glad I made the decision to stop using it, although I do sometimes miss the people I connected with online. I hope they continue to keep in touch with me via more old-fashioned methods!

The most exciting thing that has happened to me since then is that I edited my first ever poetry journal–Issue 26: Belonging of Rabbit Poetry Journal, with huge thanks to Jessica Wilkinson.

I selected 35 poems from a pool of 1500 submissions from all over the world, which was no easy task. I’m proud of each and every one of the poems in the issue, and am very grateful for the opportunity to undertake such an enjoyable and rewarding task.

Issue 26 was launched in Sydney and Melbourne in December 2018, and continues to be on sale through the Rabbit website. There are incredible poets in this issue, some of whom I had never read before, some whose work I was familiar with.

Meanwhile, it’s life as usual over here. I’m still writing, still submitting, and working on a manuscript for my next collection of poems (my fifth!! full length collection, my ninth!! book). Since October 2018 (the date of my last post on this website), I have had several poems published in various places:

‘Running’ and ‘Eating Plums’ in The Shanghai Literary Review (print only)

‘Sewing Daisies’ in Voice and Verse Poetry Magazine (print only)

‘Walking with Bella’ in Verity La

‘Running’ is a poem about friendship and simpler times, set in my memory of the track and field of my junior college in Singapore.

‘Eating Plums’ is a response to William Carlos William’s ‘To A Poor Old Woman’, and I hope it strikes the right note.

‘Sewing Daisies’ is a poem that continues a narrative that began in my own ‘Mary: A Fiction’, which was published in Peony (Pitt Street Poetry, 2014). It is written in the voice of Mary Shelley, and was a response to a prompt from the editor of Voice and Verse, which sought work that responded to the work of Percy Shelley or Mary Shelley.

‘Walking with Bella’ recollects a time where the poet Bella Li and I shared a rainy afternoon wandering Brisbane when we were both at the Queensland Poetry Festival 2017.

It’s always a pleasure and an honour to be included in anthologies. The latest I’ve had poems in are Heroines (The Neo Perennial Press, 2018), with my poem ‘Magnolia’, and On First Looking (Puncher and Wattmann, 2018), with my poems ‘Dog Meals’ and ‘Green Grief’.

I also have several poems and other writing forthcoming in various journals over the few months, including in Overland, Island, Cha Journal, Djed Press, The Lifted Brow, Rabbit, Sijo, and Verity La. My deep appreciation to the editors who continue to believe in my work.

Quitting social media has also led me to think hard about where it is I’d like to put my energies to try to make a difference in this world. I trained as a teacher, and I have run poetry workshops in schools and organisations since I became a poet.

This year, and onwards, I’d like to focus my efforts on spreading the love and passion for poetry in schools. I believe that readers can be grown, and I believe in the transformative power of poetry to change lives. At the top is a recent photograph of me with some of my lovely students at Santa Sabina College! (Photo taken from Twitter @SSCommunicate).

I have already visited four schools so far this year, and there are more on the horizon. Each group of students brings its own challenges and rewards. I undertake each session with great joy and responsibility. It is a privilege to be back in the classroom and to have access to young minds, and to speak about the art form that brings me so much richness and nuance.

I’m looking forward to the rest of 2019. I hope it brings more good poems into the world, and peace and joy to all.