travel maker press

05/11/2024

sunshine lollipops
dog nose to ground belly flops
sunset penny drops

(c) 2024

30/10/2024

on the salisbury plains
sun glances off sarcen stone
where shadows give chase

cameras click and hum
chatter subsides to stillness
we are small and awed

would that we could work
together as one mind body
harmoniously

to achieve a feat
as this for the common good
instead of fighting

a thing of beauty
of engineering and hope
to honour the sun

to help in growing
a place of ceremony
for mind and body

(c);2024

24/10/2024

Since I was unable to attend the formal event in Alice Springs last week, my awards certificate was sent by post, and arrived today 😍

22/10/2024

There are several ways you can purchase my NT Chief Minister's Book Awards 2024 shortlisted book futurespective!

👫 In person
Red Kangaroo Books
The Bookshop Darwin
The Local
Typewronger Books

📨 Mail order
Red Kangaroo Books
travel maker press

XOXO

futurespective is a collection of poems about healing through transforming, balancing head and heart, chasing desire, finding love, and designing the future.Author & illustrator| Sophie Benkemoun

20/10/2024

Poetry nirvana at Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath, UK!

Have you ever seen such a large representation of poetry in one store?

Where to begin, where to end? Two caught my eye...

16/10/2024

on top of the world it is quiet
but for wind and birds
crunch of stone underfoot
pounding of my heart

on the crest of the peak it is 3°
but feels like 1°
wind blusters through me
threatens to blow me off my feet

the views go on for miles
volcanic pallette of umber
verdigris and granny smith
ridges capped with morning sun

blue lakes and pine green isles
verdant valleys and ancient scree
stone and slides scrambled
on all fours and natural footholds

on top of the world it is quiet
but for wind and birds
turning of thoughts
pulse at my wrist

(c) 2024

14/10/2024

Words, worth

the carrion crow sits sentry
presiding over the garden
tended in memory
to the poet laureate
who fulfilled his name in life
creating words truly worthy
of time and place
celebrating the lakes country
changeable muse of great beauty
penning verses that have been studied read and recited
across history

(c) 2024

12/10/2024

Love your bookshop!

Thanks to those who joined our Love Your Bookshop Day celebrations today! We had an absolute blast and we hope you did, too 🥳

Whilst the decos are coming down and the Personal Penguins are being packed away, our Pay It Forward for youth initiative will remain 💙🩷💚 Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.

Finally, thank YOU, our wonderful customers, for making every day feel like LYBD 🥰 📚 It is a joy serving and supporting our Top End (and beyond!) literary community.

Lots of love,

The Bookshop Darwin team

Activate Darwin ▪ BookPeople ▪ Darwin City Retailers Association Inc ▪ NT Writers' Centre ▪ Penguin Books Australia

09/10/2024

Eilean a' Cheò

mist
veils
morning
turns
water
to
glass
haloes
mountains
slows
us
to
reflection

05/10/2024

On the road to Quiraing
lenticular clouds
resemble oyster shells that cling
to ocean's craggy fringe
where seals and Kelpies play

Scenery and brisk air
take my breath with every turn
as eagles soar above
and blackfaced-sheep below graze amongst the heather

(c) 2024

04/10/2024

"Every man dies, not every man truly lives"

Dean Village, Edinburgh

30/09/2024

If you ever find yourself in Edinburgh... don't miss Typewronger Books!

More than a bookshop, Typewronger is a social enterprise, events space, and risograph print studio!

I was lucky to land in Edinburgh on an open mic night so took to the stage to share a few poems.

And several copies of cat-curled and dreaming and futurespective now grace the shelves.

29/09/2024

(yesterday)

view of the priory
breakfast laughs with family
warm hearts cold sauna

(today)

warm hearted sauna
barrel ice bath for contrast
tears at the station

(c) 2024

26/09/2024

An honour to be included on the shortlist!

Celebrating Sophie Benkemoun: Shortlisted for the Fiction category of the Chief Minister’s Book Awards for futurespective.

futurespective is a collection of poems about healing through transforming, balancing head and heart, chasing desire, finding love, and designing the future.

Sophie Benkemoun is a poet and multi-disciplinary creative. Her poetry has been published in zines and anthologies over decades and more recently via her own publishing venture - travel maker press. Her work explores transformation, the human condition, connection to nature and cosmic realms. In 2016, mid-way through a lap around Australia, she and her family fell in love with the Top End and called it home.

futurespective is available for purchase through travel maker press, Bookshop Darwin (Gulumoerrgin / Darwin) and Red Kangaroo Books (Mparntwe / Alice Springs).

Good luck Sophie!

20/09/2024

️☑️ Shortlisted stickers applied!
☑️ Books restocked!

🌠 Shout out to The Bookshop Darwin and The Local for having me on your shelves!

🌠 And to ZipPrint Darwin NT for your fabulous printing services!

18/09/2024

It is an absolute thrill and honour to have made it onto the 2024 NT Chief Minister's Book Awards shortlist!!! 😁

We are so excited and proud to announce nine shortlisted authors for the 2024 Chief Ministers’ Book Awards!

Commencing in 2009, the Chief Minister's Book Awards provide a platform for locals to showcase their work. A huge congratulations to the finalists who submitted their entries this year. Covering a range of genres, the works were highly competitive and were indicative of the diversity of literary talent to be found in the Northern Territory.

The shortlisted finalists are all Northern Territory-based authors who had books published in 2022 and 2023 and entered in one of the three award categories. Now they have wait to see if they've won $10,000 and promotion and touring support.

By category, the shortlisted authors are:

FICTION

✨ futurespective - Sophie Benkemoun
✨ To kill a crested bellbird - David Jagger
✨ Hush - Ciella Williams

NON-FICTION

✨ Living in Tin - Linda Wells
✨ You Are Here - Therese Ritchie
✨ Holy Woman - Louise Omer

CHILDREN'S / YOUNG ADULT FICTION

✨ Tangki Tjuta - Donkey - Tjanpi Desert Weavers
✨ A Little Spark - Barry Jonsberg
✨ My Brain Is Magic - Prasha Sooful

Go to our website to find out more about each of the shortlisted authors and their books. https://www.ntwriters.com.au/2024-chief-ministers-shortlist-announcement/
We'll also be showcasing each shortlisted finalist in the lead up to the winner's announcement on 17th October 2024.

Best of luck to all of the shortlisted authors!

Copyright Agency
Creative Australia
Northern Territory Government

16/09/2024

each tiny world held
in its own raindrop clinging
transmuting into tiny rivulets slipping into the world below

(c) 2024