I’m always excited to see reading books that reflect the real-life experience of multilingual learners here in Australia. These stories for high school and young adult students are all about settling in, living a new life in a different environment, while missing parts of the old life…how to find a new sense of belonging.
I hadn’t heard of Milpera Publishing, and when I looked up Claire Kamber’s name, I saw that she’s the ‘author in residence’ at Milpera State High School.
Author in residence! How did this all come about? I had so many questions…
Claire, tell me first about Milpera State High School. What’s special about this school?
There’s probably no other school quite like Milpera SHS in Australia.
It’s a dedicated Intensive English Language school and it truly is a unique place. Students might arrive having had little or no schooling, and even those whose records show that they’ve had schooling, what does that really mean? Where was it? Was it fully resourced and who taught them? Some arrive not ready to learn because of what has happened to them and their families.
It’s incredibly complex, but the school has a caring Student Support Services Team, with a whole range of programs, including HEAL (expressive arts therapy is offered to all students with a refugee background). At Milpera, we use a student-centred approach to learning. That applies to my role, too. When I do class visits and interact with the students, I notice individual needs.
That sounds so good. They also have you as an author in residence! How did that come about?
It has been tricky for staff here to source literature in which the students see themselves represented, both in the text and the illustrations. There are fewer and fewer publishers producing printed books, and especially books that work for our students. So the idea of creating our own books was really filling a need, and was mostly due to the vision of the school’s Principal, Julie Peel, and our HOD team.
Creating the role was a forward-thinking decision and one that comes with a financial commitment, too (my salary and the cost of publishing books). I’d worked at Milpera some years before, and had started writing books for commercial publishers about the experience of young people moving to Australia. My leadership team were familiar with three of my earlier books and knew they worked well with Milpera’s students. It all happened from there…
How does a story evolve?
The inspiration comes from the students and hearing their stories. They all miss their homeland, the people they’ve left behind, their culture, language etc.
At the same time, I’m aware of what life skills the students need to develop, so often the stories reflect those needs. Blue Water has the theme of learning to swim, for example, because that’s an important need in Australia.
With Strong and Sweet, we wanted a book that appealed to older students and ‘sold’ the idea of TAFE as a pathway. It also referenced the frustration the main character feels in not wanting to move to Australia and then having to go to school. The line, ‘I lost my independence,’ came from a student.
What happens once you have an idea?
From there, I work closely with staff, many of whom are bi-lingual, to draft authentic stories that are low level but high interest. It’s a very collaborative process.
I then read passages (or the whole book, over several weeks) to a class to gauge their reaction and engagement with the characters and the story. I answer questions and I ask questions. It’s a lot of fun and is one of the best aspects of the job.
Do you find there are things you didn’t get quite right?
Absolutely! Sometimes when I read a draft to a class to see their reaction, I find out things I need to change or add. When I read them The Secret Kite, I learned that in Afghanistan, they fly kites from rooftops, not from the ground. I also discovered that it was the mothers who were managing everything at home, because the fathers were out, working long hours.
What a great way to create authentic stories and to support literacy…
We’re trying to foster a love of reading here at Milpera, so having an author onsite helps. Recently, after being in class, a teacher told me, “Having a resident author at school is a unique, real-life learning experience for our students. They get to meet the author of the book they’re reading, which is really cool. It’s all about bringing meaning to literature.”
I share my experiences, that a book goes through many, many versions to be the best it can be. And that’s what students need to do with their schoolwork too. First draft, re-write, review, write again etc.
We’re also fortunate to have an enormous number of volunteers (120+) who help with the Support-a-Reader program (one-on-one reading every day, which is also a great way to connect with locals and build a rapport), Help-our-Writing (one-on-one in a writing program) and provide in class support (also maths, science etc., if a volunteer has specialised skills they can share).
That’s huge. And for you – you’re not just an author; you organise the publishing. How has that been?
Sometimes it’s mildly terrifying! I’m an author, editor (and was even an illustrator, with the earlier books). Then I also liaise with the print team and their design people. I provide an illustrator’s brief and liaise with our illustrator. I deal with orders and invoicing, too. There is a lot going on, but I get an enormous sense of achievement when a new printed book arrives at the end of a year (that’s how long it takes, on average, as I’m only here two days a week, though I must say I think about the books full-time).
When I was living in Ireland, I published a book with Trinity College, Dublin, so I learned a lot from that experience. I knew all about ISBNs, legal deposit, copyright etc.
So you have some experience of moving between countries yourself?
I grew up in England, came to Australia, left again, spent six years in Canada and six in Ireland, then came back to Australia. And even though English is spoken in all these places, I still felt like an outsider for the first year or so. It’s about trying to find your way with the everyday stuff. Locals assume you’ll know how to do things, but you don’t. It also took me a while to get my ear tuned in to the local accent when we first arrived in all these places, plus the local idioms and expressions.
Of course, my experiences are nothing compared to what migrants from other language backgrounds and cultures go through! I have enormous respect for every student at Milpera, and when I’m in class, I tell them so, repeatedly. They’ve left their homes, usually not wanting to, and then they arrive somewhere where they don’t speak the language or understand the culture, traditions, or customs. It was intense for me, so I can only imagine how tough it is for them.
How did you start writing?
After I trained in Cartography and Art and Design, my first job was creating maps and geological diagrams. However, I’d loved language and writing since my school days, when I carried around a pocket dictionary my father had given me. This inspired me to complete two Certificates in English Language Teaching to Adults. Then when I came to Australia, I worked at Milpera as a Volunteer Co-ordinator and Teacher’s Aide, supporting no literacy/low literacy students.
One day I saw a small classified ad in the Education Times, asking, ‘Can you write a good story for a children’s book?’ and I thought, ‘I can do that!’ I wrote my story, got a contract with Macmillan plus an invitation to write another book, but by then I had left Australia and was living in Ontario, where I worked first as a volunteer tutor and then as a university tutor, teaching English to overseas students. I kept on with the writing (all inspired by the students I’d met at Milpera), and had another story accepted by Blake Education.
How were the books received?
These books were all published while I was away, so I had no idea that Milpera had seen and bought them. It was quite a surprise when I took a trip back to Australia, to be asked to do an author visit! I hadn’t had the experience of going into classrooms and hearing students say, ‘This is my story, Miss!’ so that was wonderful.
Although I’ve had more books published elsewhere, including in Korea, my focus now is totally on Milpera Publishing.
Books like the ones you write are so important…
Yes, they are.
I should also mention that when Covid hit, we were able to use the books in our online delivery, Milpera Live, which is now offered to learners in state schools across Queensland.
Tell me about your glossary of words in other languages in each story book…
We use translanguaging to acknowledge that all language and prior learning is important. If a student sees or hears a familiar word in their first language, it can make a significant difference to how they engage with learning.
I loved your anniversary book, that celebrated the whole school. That would be an amazing resource for anyone trying to do something similar.
Thanks! That was a wonderful experience putting that together, drawing from the huge archive of 40 years of records, photos, stories, celebrating past and present students, teachers, volunteers…
It gives you much more background information and also the feel of the place. I wanted it to be a book that everyone at school could enjoy, from foundation to exit. It was definitely a project that occupied many additional hours.
What kind of feedback have you had on the books?
The feedback from colleagues has been overwhelmingly positive, but then it’s always time to swiftly move onto the next project, knowing there’s still more for us to do.
We have been able to provide books at various English levels, suitable for different age groups. My role was initially for one year, but based on the success of Blue Water, I was asked to continue. And what a wonderful opportunity for me!
Students often ask, ‘Why haven’t you written about my country, Miss?’ which tells me that what I am doing touches them.
This past week I did a Q&A session with a class who had read Strong and Sweet. One student said, ‘Miss, I don’t really like reading. But THIS book is so good for me!’
His words touched me; they really did. Sharing his perspective made a big difference to the positivity in the classroom – we all felt it.
What advice would you give to would-be authors?
Don’t try to write about something you know little about or are not connected to. It will never feel authentic. I’m lucky to have access to all this cultural knowledge at Milpera – that’s what helps the stories feel real. You have to feel a place and its people so that the writing will then be authentic. That passion has to be present in the words.
For me, dialogue is important. The words the characters use, and how they say them, is crucial. Don’t assume you know how a teenager or a local speaks. Take time to check.
Don’t get wedded to your words, none of them! Be prepared to change and change again. A sentence you first thought was beautifully crafted might not be worth keeping. Be prepared to cut it.
Are you thinking of creating more fiction or non-fiction?
Our next project might be non-fiction. We’re looking at the theme of ‘Belonging’ and making an anthology of artefacts, recipes and music that connect staff and students with where they’ve come from. It might be a resource that helps inexperienced staff to better understand what to expect when interacting with the students at Milpera.
How can schools and libraries access the books?
They can order directly from us through our P&C Association. There are details of the books and order forms on the school website. Just click on the cover of a book to look inside and see the level and length of the text, as this does vary between books.
I encourage sharing the books with younger mainstream students too, so they understand what multilingual learners have been through.
Thank you so much, Claire! So inspiring at so many levels. Good luck to you all at Milpera, and I hope that anyone reading this blog will spread the word about the books!