Fern Ridge (Safla Rama) Digest

Writing for children is fun, exciting, and wonderful. My children wrote their stories in their grade five composition class at Waigani Primary School. Their stories were edited with illustrations by Peter Ella and Thomas Ella, artists famous for the mural walls of the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium.     These books bridge the gap between these young children in the Middle Fly schools and the rest of the world.     It was a dream to see books written for children end up in their hands. It is as beautiful as the water lilies in the lagoons of Balimo.     The children’s books that my children wrote and published are now in the hands of the children of Balimo. At Auwaba primary school I witnessed school children read my book   Muruk na Pato   and daughter Cheryl’s book   Two Sisters and Nokondi’s Head . The children at Miti Primary school read   Jupi and the Magic Feather,  and   Two Brothers and a Wild Dog    by Langston Winduo.     The children read the books in front of their schools, teache

I sometimes envy writers in our society who struggle so hard to have their writings published. I have been writing since the early 1980s through sheer conviction that what I do is for the sake of doing what I do best even without having to get paid for it. That conviction has led me to do extraordinary things and discover extraordinary people around the world. Over time I managed to have my own writings published around the world. I also managed to give readings of my work in PNG, Fiji, Sydney, Hawai’i, Canada, and Minnesota, USA. The life of a writer is never one that is static, but it is one that is full of creative spirit and commitment to transfer human thoughts to print with as much honesty, passion, and integrity. Writing helps a writer to breath life where there is no life, no conscience, and truth making. In the journey I made as a writer in this country I discovered interesting aspects of such a life. To write a good book takes many months or years before it is published. Th