Kirli Saunders Kirli Saunders i(10329332 works by)
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal Yuin ; Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Gunai ; Aboriginal Gadigal
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BiographyHistory

Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman with ties to the Yuin, Gundungurra, Gadigal, and Biripi people. In 2018, she was the Manager of Poetic Learning and Aboriginal Cultural Liaison at Red Room Poetry. She was awarded 'Worker of the Year 2017' at the NAIDOC awards in the Illawarra / Shoalhaven region. Kirli founded the Poetry in First Languages project. Her first children’s picture book The Incredible Freedom Machines, illustrated by Matt Ottley, has been selected for Bologna Book Fair 2018. Her second picture book, Our Dreaming, will be released by Scholastic in 2019. Kirli's poem 'A Dance of Hands' was runner-up in the Nakata Brophy Prize. Her poem 'Disconnection' will feature in Cordite issue 86. In 2018, Kirli was Writer in Residence at Bundanon Trust, Q Station and The Literature Centre, Fremantle, for 'The Sound of Picture Books'.

Source: Provided by author.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Our Dreaming Lindfield : Scholastic Australia , 2022 24433228 2022 single work picture book children's

'Goodjagah, little one, walk with me ... I want to tell you our Dreaming as the Elders told it to me. Award-winning storytellers, Gunai woman Kirli Saunders and Bigambul man Dub Leffler, explore a deep love and respect for Country and all her spirits ... past, present and beyond.'  (Publication summary)

2023 shortlisted The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature Karajia Award
2023 shortlisted CBCA Book of the Year Awards Picture Book of the Year
2023 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Picture Book
y separately published work icon Bindi Broome : Magabala Books , 2020 19598297 2020 single work children's fiction children's

'Meet 11-year-old Bindi. She’s not really into maths but LOVES art class and playing hockey. Her absolute FAVOURITE thing is adventuring outside with friends or her horse, Nell.

'A new year starts like normal—school, family, hockey, dancing. But this year hasn’t gone to plan! There’s a big art assignment, a drought, a broken wrist AND the biggest bushfires her town has ever seen!

'Bindi is a verse novel for mid-upper primary students. Written ‘for those who plant trees’, Bindi explores climate, bushfires, and healing. Written from the point of view of 11-year-old Bindi and her friends on Gundungurra Country.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2022 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books
2022 shortlisted Festival Awards for Literature (SA) Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature South Australian Literary Awards Children's Literature Award
2022 shortlisted Ena Noël Award
2021 winner Queensland Literary Awards Griffith University Children’s Book Award
2021 shortlisted Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Indigenous Children
2021 winner Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Eight to 10 Years
2021 longlisted Colin Roderick Award
2021 shortlisted CBCA Book of the Year Awards Book of the Year: Younger Readers
2021 shortlisted Readings Prizes The Readings Children’s Book Prize
2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Younger Readers
2021 shortlisted APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Children’s Fiction Book designed by Joanna Hunt
2021 winner Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Small Publishers' Children's Book of the Year
2018 inaugural winner Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Daisy Utemorrah Award as 'Mother Speaks'.
y separately published work icon Kindred Broome : Magabala Books , 2019 15509082 2019 selected work poetry

'This is the breaking,
the shattering,
the smattering
of every limit
ever accepted
or imposed…

Kindred, Kirli Saunders' debut poetry collection, is a pleasure to lose yourself in. Kirli has a keen eye for observation, humour and big themes that surround Love/Connection/Loss in an engaging style, complemented by evocative and poignant imagery. It talks to identity, culture, community and the role of Earth as healer. Kindred has the ability to grab hold of the personal in the universal and reflect this back to the reader.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2021 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for Indigenous Writing
2020 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year
Last amended 25 Aug 2021 14:09:16
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