Claire Saxby
Welcome to Creative Kids Tales, Claire Saxby.
Having over 40 books in print and more in production, Claire Saxby has created a strong following. She has charmed audiences for more than 15 years with her beautifully crafted works in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
After a 20 year career in community health as a podiatrist, Claire decided to pursue writing. Writing was always a passion and thanks to some encouraging words from a teacher “Mr M” at her children’s school she decided to give it a try.
Claire started her writing journey creating poetry for both adults and children. Inspired by memories of her childhood, her own children and those around her, Claire quickly devoted her efforts to developing stories solely for children. She honed her skills by attending a 'Writing for Children' subject at TAFE before submitting one of the chapter books she had worked on in class to a small educational packager, who accepted it.
Her lyrical and informative books including, Big Red Kangaroo, Emu, My Name is Lizzie Flynn and There Was an Old Sailor, have won a number of awards. Big Red Kangaroo was a 2014 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Book, and won the CBCA Crichton Award for illustration, and Emu was short-listed for the 2015 CBCA Eve Pownall Award and won the Environment Award for Children's Literature. Both these books, illustrated by Graham Byrne, also received the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales Whitley Award. Her book, Ebi’s Boat, illustrated by Anne Spudvilas, was a CBCA Notable book in 2007. There Was an Old Sailor, illustrated by Cassandra Allen, was short-listed for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards 2010 and received The Crystal Kite Award for 2011 .
Claire has written picture books, chapter books, short stories and articles. Her vivid poetry appears in magazines, anthologies, museum resources and even train walls!
Growing up, Claire’s family moved around a lot. She went to nine different schools and lived in more than 20 houses. For several years, Claire and her family lived in Bougainville Papua New Guinea. Residing in Papua New Guinea gave Claire endless opportunities to swim in the clearest water and explore pristine reefs. Going to the beach is still one of Claire’s favorite places. She is the most happiest in the water.
A very supportive family, enables Claire to invent her exquisitely poetic and expressive stories. Her family motivate and influence her work, keeping her safe and grounded and feeding her chocolate when needed!
Claire’s ability to see the bright side of any given situation gave her the nickname of Pollyanna from her mum. This endearing quality has helped her inspire and connect with her audience and those paving their own literary journey.
2018 will see the release of a number of Claire’s books, including Bird to Bird and Dingo. We are very pleased to have Claire join Creative Kids Tales.
Introduction by Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern
Read CKT's March 2018 interview with Claire Saxby
Website: clairesaxby.wordpress.com
Some of Claire Saxby's books: