writing

publication & prizes

There’s usually a rush of relief when Max finds other kids to play with. He’s not generally part of the pack. Georgie sometimes worries that this precious child of hers isn’t a great fit with the modern world.

Leah stood still at the edge of the pool. The afternoon sun was in our eyes and she was haloed by it but we could still see clearly: everything. The wet swimmers were completely see-through.

At her Dad’s funeral, there were a few rows taken at the front with immediate family. Then there was a wasteland of empty pews in the middle and full rows at the back. It had bothered her how lopsided it felt, like a tide pulling back out.

If people think more about being part of a community and spending time with their nan learning how to make jam, is it such a bad thing?

It was her first homecoming. She didn’t realise it would be so underwhelming. Everything was all just the same; the saggy washing line, the tangle of bougainvillea, the lawn that never looked as neat as it should.

Grace’s mother had given her lessons on this serious aspect of diplomacy when entertaining. Grace thought about all the things her mother taught her that she never needed to know and the things she never learned which might have been helpful.

She stood still and tried to feel something; charged air, a hand on her shoulder. She could hear the drone of the fridge and the flicker of the fluoro lighting but she couldn’t hear an answer from her dead husband.

I can’t win with James. He’s falling out of love. I’m fuel for irritation; the way my shoes click, the strength of my perfume, my intonation when I ask a question.

Lindsay apologised to the boy in blue boardies. He shrugged and she followed the freckles on his back as he retreated outside to his girlfriend.

Rachel’s kitchen had a collection of twenty-two different herbs and spices. My mum’s had two.

It was also voted Best of Oceania.

My mum sang lullabies to us in German, rocking us gently to the tunes of her childhood.

the Marian Eldridge award

I won the 2006 Marian Eldridge Award for an Australian female writer based on a portfolio of writing.

I was also short-listed for the 2003 Marian Eldridge Award for an Australian female writer based on a portfolio of writing.

People either love or detest the tropics. There’s no room for moderates in a climate that is so extreme. Referring to North Australia, Thea Astley wrote “Banks hated it up here. So did Cook. But they hadn’t met any people”.