Julie Murphy

Australian children's writer, zoologist and former zookeeper 

Hi!   Welcome to my web page.  Feel free to look around. I hope you find something to interest or inspire you – or perhaps both.

 
About me

I have been interested in animals and language for as long as I can remember. As a youngster, I loved reading Enid Blyton stories, and can remember conning friends on numerous occasions to help me put on plays for my unfortunate relatives. At high school I was best at  English and French. After school, I studied Zoology at university, which I really loved. After finishing a Masters thesis about how guide dog trainers assess the temperament of their dogs, I faced the sad reality that long-term jobs in zoology were few and far between. I took a side-step into the fascinating world of zookeeping. That kept me busy for ten years! 

On the home front, I was constantly saving up for the next backpacking trip overseas with my partner. We usually managed to head off somewhere every few years. We have been lucky to have visited parts of Africa, Asia, South America, Europe and, of course, Australia. We are probably allergic to package tours - we always travelled independently for as long as we could (sometimes 3 or 4 months) in order to meet some locals and get a real 'feel' for a place. Some of the places we visited have changed substantially over the ensuing years, which makes us feel extra fortunate for having had the opportunity to experience them when we did. Being curious about people is very helpful in generating ideas for my writing...but I'll come back to that in a minute.

Now we are older and have a young daughter, our destinations and modes of travel have become somewhat more comfortable. In 2007 we spent 14 weeks towing a camper-trailer around outback Australia. It was a bit different from sharing the back of a truck with 23 South Americans...but there were a few similarities at times!

More than ten years ago, I changed to part-time employment so as to devote more time to the persistent urge to write. But a happy event intervened and, after a two-year hiatus dedicated exclusively to my growing family (which sounds so much more civilised than the reality of the domestic madness that comes with having a new baby), I now write from my home office while my daughter attends school. I also work casually as an Education Officer at a local urban farm. I think I may have stumbled on the perfect combination of stimulation, nurturing, creativity and domesticitiy.

My published work began with scientific papers, branched out to non-fiction articles for children and adults, and has finally settled in the wonderful world of children’s literature.This includes books, articles, verse and other assorted bits and pieces. Along the way there has been an article for a zoo encyclopedia and an instructional manual teaching children how to breed stick insects!

So now, being a children's writer specialising in animals and nature-related topics, I get to combine my interests in language, animals and children. What are my plans for the future? To continue to write for children...and to have more of it published! So far, the children's books I have had published have mainly been through the Education market, but I am also working on breaking into Trade. Current works-in-progress include a couple of picture book manuscripts, one early (emergent) reader, one mid grade reader and two non fiction series for schools.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my husband and daughter.

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to have a look at my Recent News and Publications for sale via the links at the top left-hand side of this page. I hope you will drop by again some time!