Kirli Saunders

About

Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman with ties to the Yuin, Gundungurra, Gadigal and Biripi people. Kirli is the Manager of Poetic Learning and Aboriginal Cultural Liaison at Red Room Poetry. She was awarded 'Worker of the Year 2017' at the NAIDOC awards in the Illawarra/ Shoalhaven region. Kirli founded the Poetry in First Languages project. Her first children’s picture book The Incredible Freedom Machines, illustrated by Matt Ottley has been selected for Bologna Book Fair 2018. Her second picture book Our Dreaming will be released by Scholastic in 2019. Kirli's poem 'A Dance of Hands' was Runner-up in the 2017 Nakata Brophy Prize. Her poem, 'Disconnection' will feature in Cordite issue 86. In 2018, Kirli will be Writer in Residence at Bundanon Trust, Q Station and The Literature Centre, Fremantle for 'The Sound of Picture Books'.