About Urban Lyrebirds
One of Australia’s leading independent EAL publishers, Urban Lyrebirds create and publish award winning, English language resources to inspire learners and invigorate teachers.
The popular resources reflect the lives of our students and our rich cultural landscape. They are in TAFES, Community Learning Centres, schools and libraries across Australia, New Zealand and other countries.
Urban Lyrebirds is a founding member of ESL SPIN, which is an emerging network of local, independent publishers. Have a look at the ESL SPIN blog here.
Urban Lyrebirds is a member of the Small Press Network. The Small Press Network (SPN) is a representative body for small and independent publishers in Australia. It was formed to promote independent publishing and support the principle of diversity within the publishing industry as a vital component of Australian literary culture.
Awards
Awarded Songwriters – Short listed Australian songwriting competition
Australian Songwriting Association 2015
Sing with me! Books 1 and 2 Highly Commended - Educational Publishing Awards 2014
Publications and articles
Fine Print 2020 Vol 43 #2 Practical Matters: Teaching songs in the English classroom by Carmel Davies and Sharon Duff
Fine Print 2019 Vol 42 #2 Remembering Maggie Power by Lindee Conway
Fine Print 2016 Vol 39 #2 Foreign Correspondent: CamTESOL conference by Carmel Davies and Sharon Duff
Fine Print 2014 Vol 37 #1 Practical Matters: Song Matters by Carmel Davies & Sharon Duff
Reviews
Teaching EAL/D through the Arts Workshop at NGV - Review by Manjit Bhamral
Sing with me stories - Manjit Bhamral in VALBEC'S Fine Print, Vol: 45 #3, 2022 - Sing with me Stories by Carmel Davies and Sharon Duff Reviewed by Manjit Bhamral
May Street Stories - TESOLANZ Newsletter, Vol: 40 #1, 2022-24 - May Street Stories by Gillian Claridge
May Street Stories - by Jodie Whitehurst
Passages to English 3 - Fine Print, Vol: 40 #1, 2017 - What’s out there Passages to English 3 Review by Manalini Kane
Sing with me! 3 - Fine Print, Vol: 39 #1, 2016 - What’s out there Sing with me! 3 review by Beth Oddy & Phil Hudson
Sing with me! 1 & 2 - Fine Print, Vol: 37 #1, 2014 - What’s out there Sing with me! 1 & 2 review by Chris Falk
Collaborations
Multicultural Arts Victoria - The Piers Festival
The Multicultural Hub - Refugee Week songs and stories
Melbourne Libraries - English through Song course
Community Music Victoria - Shepparton Song Project (funded by the Justice Department)
Carmel Davies
Carmel has wide experience teaching across the EAL sector, from refugee camps in Thailand to young adult literacy classes with AMES to job seeker workshops for professionals.
She has written a range of resources including ‘What’s the law? Australian law for new arrivals’ and ‘Pictures to Words’ Book 1. She got a Churchill Fellowship to travel and research ‘ESL through Performance’ and created plays focused on refugee and asylum seeker stories.
Sharon Duff
Sharon has a passion for teaching and creating engaging EAL resources. She has taught all levels from literacy students through to skilled migrants and delivered interactive workshops and papers on a wide range of EAL topics.
She has written numerous readers, text books and co-written e-learning resources for the AMEP Australia wide Distance Learning course.