My Writing Credentials
A photo of me taken in April 2009.
This site is about me as a writer.
I trained as a primary school teacher in the late 1960s. In 2004 I retired after 35 years of primary school teaching. For eight of those years I was a teacher librarian. Much of my experience has been with children aged 7-10. This experience has kept me in touch with children’s literature and publishing trends.
First Publications
In 1993 and 1994 I had six books published. These included 2 curriculum based books for teachers and 4 children’s workbooks linked to the curriculum. These books have remained in print and are used Australia-wide as well as widely in the Pacific islands area. Update:last year the publisher closed its doors and so these books are now sadly out of print. [sigh]
Recent Activities and Publications
I am a long-term member of the South Australian Writers’ Centre. I have honed my skills by attending many writers’ seminars and workshops. I have supplemented this by studying a wide range of books and magazines that focus on writing, as well as reading articles published on the Internet. I have had articles, stories and poems published in a range of Australian magazines.
Puppets
Over the last 15 years I have been involved in a small puppet troupe. I direct and produce all performances, which have been performed in schools, churches and open-air venues. I write most of the scripts for this puppet troupe and I have also written scripts for other puppet groups. Soon I plan to have these scripts – numbering over 40 titles – available for purchase through this site.
Current Projects
I am currently working on preparing several children’s picture book texts for submission to publishers. I am doing a writing course on writing for children run by the Australian Academy of Writing. During this course I am being mentored by well established Adelaide author, Robyn Opie. She has over 60 titles to her credit.
I am also working on two novels for young readers and I am planning several novels for upper primary age students. I regularly write in my three blogs (see the links section to read my blogs on birding and travelling).
UPDATE: July 2008
This year I have embarked on a two year course at Tabor College in Adelaide, South Australia. I am doing my Master of Arts in Creative Writing. So far I have found this course to be very stimulating and informative. The faculty members are very caring and draw the best out of the students.
I also write poetry, articles and short stories and regularly submit these to magazines and enter them in competitions.
Graduation – Master of Arts Creative Writing
UPDATE: Feb 2011 I have passed my Master of Arts (Creative Writing) with a distinction. Yay.
UPDATE: Feb 2012: I have been asked to be an adjunct lecturer at Tabor Adelaide. Quite a challenge for me.
Trevor Hampel
Murray Bridge, South Australia
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