I was having lunch with Heather O’Connor at the Sundeck in Bermagui recently when a woman approached our table. Heather smiled and said to me, ‘Do you know Kathryn? Lois Irwin’s daughter. She’s visiting from California.’ I did – I remembered her from her father’s funeral. ‘Mum’s just finished your book,’ Kathryn said to me….
Category: Writing news
So I wrote a memoir. But what’s the point?
For anyone who read my memoir, Long Road to Dry River, and is interested in a bit of backstory, The Brevity Blog (US) has kindly published a short (very short) essay I wrote about a light bulb moment in the writing, and my precious aunt who brought it about.
The seven stages of a story shortlisting
With the first email on 13 March, my writerly ego to the fore, it was clear: Nobody Owns a Fire, I conceded, was a half-decent story and it just took the right judge to bathe it in the glory it deserved. And of course the Foundation needed some documentation – my residential address, my phone…


