Meet the author Pip Harry

Image source: 2014 interview with Kids' Book Review

This week I attended a local library conference, and the after-lunch speaker was Pip Harry.  I have previously talked about quite a few of her books and in this post, I can share some news of her new titles coming out later this year and next year. Here is her Instagram page. 

Are you there Buddha?

August and Jones

The Little Wave

Pip saw some children at South Curl Curl beach here in Sydney and she found out about 

Stewart House and this gave the idea for this book. 

As a child this was the beach where I swam with my parents. 

Here are a few things I discovered about Pip Harry:

• Many years of her childhood were spent in Singapore and later at a girls' school in Melbourne
• As a child she moved a lot and so is familiar with the complexities of fitting in
• Her books explore big themes - change, loss, grief, trauma
• Her early career was writing for magazines such as Women's Day and New Idea
• Magazine writing taught her about deadlines and developed her own curiosity about people
• She also learned how to think on her feet
• In her early 20s she wrote a novel but it was not accepted by any publisher (she tried 23).
• At age 35 she started writing again and Pip Harry also went back to night school to study creative writing and she found a group of other writers who supported her work
• She writes to make sense of the world, to process situations and relationships
• The blue cover of August and Jones was not intended to link with the US Classic Wonder by RJ Palacio

There was one more thing Pip Harry mentioned that I have been pondering. She said in journalism it is important not to 'bury the lead' and that has helped with her writing for children but oddly I am not so sure about this. I adore books where the plot line slowly unfolds - where you are NOT told everything up front but have to do the 'hard yards' and read the whole book to discover the 'truth' or the solution to the mystery and so on.

Here are her first three books:

Read this interview where Pip talks about this book.

Shortlisted - CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2018
Shortlisted - Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2018
Shortlisted - Queensland Literary Awards 2018

Here is a 2017 interview where Pip talks about this book

Coming next from Pip Harry:

• Picture books - Over and Under (with Hilary Jean Tapper from New Zealand); The Inside Dog; and The Goodbye Tree.
• Junior novel series - Camp Spook: Attack of the Aliants written with Kate Foster.
• A young adult verse novel called Drift.

Pip Harry likes the form of the verse novel (so do I) because

• you need to strip away all unnecessary words
• highlight imagery
• they accesible to all readers especially reluctant readers
• the offer a fun way to play with words

Pip mentioned the wonderful NCACL verse novel database. Check out this link and this post. 

Pip Harry is SO lucky - she will visit Milkwood the farm owned by Sophie Blackall for an author/illustrator retreat. Here are some photos of previous events at Milkwood. Hundreds of people apply to attend these events each of which have a different focus. See all the wonderful books by Sophie Blackall here. And check out all her photos on Instagram. 

Residencies are designed for writers, illustrators, and researchers who want to get sustained, uninterrupted work done. You might work at the desk in your room or at the communal table in the two-story library, in the light-filled Calf Barn studio or the cavernous hayloft, on a sunny balcony or under the shade of the open-air barn, or in any number of secluded nooks and corners. 

One more thing ... As usual I didn't gather enough courage to personally speak to Pip Harry but I was thrilled when she said she now lives in the suburb of Sydney where I grew up!!

After six years abroad, Pip recently returned home to Australia and now lives on the beautiful Northern Beaches of Sydney. Pip works as a copywriter for a non-profit in the youth homelessness sector and has three picture books coming out soon. When Pip isn’t scribbling, typing or reading, she loves to swim in the ocean, wander along bush tracks and eat ice-cream.