From: Sherryl Clark <sherrylc1>
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 08:43:18 +1000

When my first verse novel "Farm Kid" was being published in 2004 by Penguin Australia, they insisted that it have illustrations. A number of other people (including some on this list) felt that poetry shouldn't be illustrated, that the words should be allowed to stand for themselves. I lost the battle with the publisher, but I won lots of small battles where illustrations had been included that I felt detracted from the poems. In other words, we reached a compromise. In nearly every review, and in the many comments I have received about the book (which went on to win the NSW Premier's Literary Award) people have said how much they like the illustrations. That has been a relief to me. The new verse novel, due out in 2007, will also be illustrated. I still feel it is an ongoing negotiation about what will add, what will detract. Sherryl Clark Author
Received on Thu 06 Apr 2006 05:43:18 PM CDT