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Kathryn Apel is a born-and-bred farm girl who’s scared of cows. She lives among the gum trees, kangaroos and cattle on a Queensland grazing property. Kat paints pictures with words, because much as she’d love to, Kat can’t draw. She loves pumping poetry because she can flex her muscles across other genres, to bend (and break) writing rules. A trained teacher and literacy consultant, Kat shares her passion for words at schools and festivals.

Kathryn specialises in poetry workshops for kids and adults – and staff professional development sessions across grades and curriculum area.

Click the tabs to find out more about The Kat’s Whiskers and her words. Read about Kat’s Books, with links to reviews & activities, or to Buy Books. Download Kids’ Stuff activities for home & classroom use.

Information and images on this website are copyright Kathryn Apel. Not to be reposted or published without prior written permission.

A Weekend With Dame Lynley Dodd

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Dame Lynley Dodd, at three different events at the Bundaberg Art Gallery. Friday night was for educators and parents. In a relaxed conversation with curator Penelope Jackson, Lynley shared snippets of her life story in a chat that was both entertaining and enlightening. Some little treasures I took … Continue reading →

World Penguin Day Poem – Adélies

Technically yesterday was World Penguin Day – but since yesterday was ANZAC Day, deserving of its own reflective contemplation and gratitude, I’m running to American time and posting my penguin poem for Poetry Friday. A number of years ago I was given Irene Latham’s name in Tabatha’s Yeatts’ Poetry Swap – which absolutely thrilled me, … Continue reading →

Is There Anybody There?

I’m rather thrilled to be asked to judge the Primary category of the 2019 Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards. As a teacher, I used these awards to give students a real audience. I know what a big deal these awards are in the classroom! To be on the other side (and expecting to read thousands of … Continue reading →

Progressive Poem – Day Two

Not only is the Progressive Poem Irene Latham‘s idea, but I am following with her sentiment for her personal month-long poetry project, and bringing ‘happy’ into this poem. As a group, we agreed to write a poem for children. Matt’s Day One post challenged us to use found lines. I personally wanted to bring in … Continue reading →

Raising Readers

This week I’m sharing a wonderful new book that all Australian parents and carers need to get their hands on. (Teachers too, because you’ll learn heaps – and also have an excellent resource you can recommend.) ‘Raising Readers‘ is an ambitious project, inspired by the lovely Kristina Schultz, at UQP, and undertaken by award-winning children’s … Continue reading →

Relief

Today is International Women’s Day, and for Poetry Friday, Catherine Flynn suggested we post about women we admire. This poem was inspired by my mum, who was diagnosed with bladder cancer over 7 years ago. Within two months, Mum had radical surgery to remove the tumours – and her bladder. At the time the cystectomy … Continue reading →

February is Finished?

After a Month of Poetry in January, February saw me back at work on submissions and WIPs and generally discovering a whole lot of things that I still need to do! (And blogging was apparently not one of them…) I created a little book of poetry for my Mum’s birthday, using the design Sylvia Vardell … Continue reading →